Awaken the Stars Song
by kurahieiritr JIO
Summary: The Celestial Spirits forfeited their humanity to save Earthland thousands of years ago leaving their Star Singer descendants behind with Magical keys. An unstoppable evil will escape its prison if the last Star Singer bloodlines die. How far will Fairy Tail's strange new allies go to save Earthland? Why use Lucy to achieve their goal? Tags: Angst, Violence, A/U, O/Cs
1. Chapter 1

Awaken the Stars Song By: KurahieiritrJIO

An ancient dragon awakens to warn of an evil to escape it's prison if the last Star Singer bloodlines are killed by dark guilds seeking to resurrect the unstoppable evil. The Star Singers are the decedents of Celestial Spirits who forfeited their humanity to save Earthland thousands of years ago. How far will Fairy Tail and new allies have to go to save Earthland?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail universe or characters so make no money off this story. I own Original characters I toss into the mix to promote chaos for cannon characters.

Authors Note: The tamer version will be posted here so the Adult themes will be hinted at instead of blatent to follow the rules of the site. AFF gets the full brutal versions of this fic because it is adults only. I do not know how the Celestial Spirits started serving Celestial mages, nor how the Phoenix became corrupted {in the movie}. Wondering such questions incited this weird madness of reawakening fiends a.k.a. plot bunnies who will not let go and settle into their expected routine yet. Loki POV Reagaltiel is the pre-Celestial Spirit name that I devised. WARNING: Gore descriptions.

Prologue: Birth of the Celestial Spirits; Earthland, 5000 years ago

_**The Tenru continent was shrinking at an alarming rate. A reddish mist blew across Reagaltiel's Leo Temple priests position, dropping small chunks of what once comprised living beings. Constant screams rent the air. Shattered weapons rained down upon all of the various factions involved in this last ditch battle for survival. Reagaltiel was one of the most powerful Star Singers attached to the Leo Constellation temple, and he was furious that his priests spells were not making any headway despite using their strongest spells against the black magic bearing down on them. Too many magical races were in the same position. It was no time for his temper to overwhelm his wits. His temple's members were depending on him to keep everyone alive.**_

_**Destroyed land, already consumed by the violent maelstrom of energy flung like wind by an unseen sentience, mixed with the bloody mists created by explosive spells. The combination was an abhorrent rainfall that obscured all. Gore caked all the priests, and as sundry allied warriors in a layer of ghoulish mud. Even waterproof furs and boiled leathers were soggy with the unholy filth as the magical holocaust intensified. Desperation drove the unified races to hurl themselves at the brutal enemy which none seemed able to conquer. **_

_**The black energy encased monstrosity that their various leaders dubbed the Abyss Lord kept flowing ever closer, disintegrating everything the power vortex touched. Nothing coming from diverse magic attacks of all the races present seemed capable of stopping it, and only a few spells slowed the thing's momentum. The temporarily unified species had agreed it would take all of them working together to stop this thing's ongoing annihilation of their world. Only a handful of beings had ever used the one power, and it was desperately needed on a massive scale. Reagaltiel thought simply to shift his focus from dropping too deep into Astral Star Chain's required trance. The astral star chain fed him extra power needed to hurl spell after spell at the formless mass of raw destruction spiraling and transforming before him. Yet it came with a dangerous price. Go too deep into the trance and his body would be destroyed by the star force he was linked into to use magic.**_

_**Helping the only race that all species resented felt odd to Reagaltiel. Everyone survived the misery that the Fairies caused others. Reagaltiel knew the misery far more intimately than most. If not for Vraylinish demanding that everyone stop this before it destroyed everything, Reagaltiel would not be here, feeling numbed to the core by the horror witnessed on this battlefield. The Fairies believed themselves far greater than the rest of the races, and acted accordingly. Enslaving anyone who amused them was just one of the many cruelties the Fairies enacted upon the other races. **_

_**However, Reagaltiel felt it was better to survive the normal nightmares than to accept anything worse than the Fairies. All the Races agreed if only because the Fairies eternal existence was being erased as if they were nothing but insignificant insects by a far worse nightmare. A currently formless nightmare had descended upon Earthland to obliterate everything in it's path. Only mutual survival could have forced so many enemy races into this last stand alliance for self preservation. **_

_**An actual continent was almost completely destroyed in a matter of days, and that was the main reason all of the races were gathered here to fight. If the immortal Fairies could not stop this alone, the rest of their world would be reduced to nothingness should they fail in this God forsaken place. Yet Reagaltiel wondered how they were going to survive the attacks of this Abyss Lord when he was watching true immortals die like immobile flies getting crushed beneath boulders. The Fairy continent was shattering under the black hued roiling power that roared in a way that implied foreign words none of them understood. Whatever Abyss Lord was saying was a mystery, but the spells decimating every group was proof enough that it spoke. All the pureblood magical races, and the Bane Warriors agreed that the Abyss Lord was intelligent. **_

_**The whirling tornado of energy must protect a physical body they still assumed. When they accepted the truce from the Sheemastra Royal clan to participate in this impossible fight, everyone thought they could take the monster down. After two days without rest, Abyss seemed impervious to every form of weapon and magic that was hurled into the black seething power that hid the beast. Whatever it looked like beneath all that power was anyone's guess. Reagaltiel had no desire to know what the nightmare looked like at this point. He simply desired an end to the slaughter so he could find his bond mate and forget this ever happened.**_

_**The Fairies, and their even less human looking kinsmen were vanishing faster than any of their allies could fathom. Fairies did not vanish as they all knew after centuries of fighting with the somewhat sadistic race. The most frightening part of this one sided war was watching true immortals exploding and increasing the unnatural bloody mists with falling flesh chunks and shattered bone bits. So much carrion and mud continued peppering the allied ranks until it was impossible to determine friend from foe outside of general species shapes.**_

_**The dingy yet visible silvery white rainbow hide of Sertatsie the Creation Queen flicked into sight as the winged beast dove and twisted in the air avoiding deadly spikes of power flitting out of the mass of the Abyss Lord's energy shield. Other dragons followed in a scraggly formation, their latest strafing run against the enemy getting repelled for the most part. **_

_**The Dragon race's highest ranked queen also carried Reagaltiel's beloved upon her neck as they rushed toward the obscene spirit cloud. Combining their rare versions of the One Power, the pair shot forth complimentary spells in tandem. Their combined powers welded together and had a real effect on the Abyss Lord's whirlwind shielding. The dark waves of energy flowed in reverse, swirled and writhed under each spell the pair managed to hurl at the pitch black force.**_

_**If anyone could stop the Abyss Lord's momentum, he believed it was Sertatsie, Highest Queen of the Dragons, and Vraylinish, the Sacred Saint and Supreme Alpha of the Bane Warriors. The pair had unified all the races to fight this unspeakable evil menace when the ambassadors from Tenru arrived with the horrific news of an unstoppable enemy appearing in their world. Such nightmares always made Vraylinish stronger, and this certainly was the worst one any had faced yet. Being soaked in viscera had to be one of the most sickening things he had ever witnessed, and Reagaltiel had witnessed some very cruel things in his lifetime.**_

_**Humans alone tapped power sources from outside of this world which the Bane Warriors had hoped would slow, if not outright stop, the Abyss Lord's onslaught. Still, the One Power seemed to have a stronger effect on the mass of pitch black power than their many diverse star songs were having, possibly due to the lack of solidarity. Reagaltiel wondered how they could stop the beast bearing down on their position as if there was not a drop of resistance before it. Because so few humans used magic, the Star Singers had been included in this farce of a war by the Bane Warriors' demands. All sixteen major Constellation Temples were battling beside the rest of the races which was quite extraordinary. **_

_**Despite how dangerously deep Reagaltiel drew upon the immense power of the star Regulus, and focused it into every holy star song, he, and all the Leo Constellation Temple priests under his command continued giving ground. Perhaps it was because they were doing their own thing with each attack, unlike Sertatsie and Vraylinish. Waves of malicious magic resisted their random healing, and battle magic because of each doing their strongest spells. However, as a single force, it was possible that they could withstand the overwhelming destructive force they sought to nullify. **_

_**Bringing down the extremely powerful energy vortex that had to be surrounding the creature needed to be their one accomplishment. Their stronger magical allies like the Centaurs, Satyrs, Dragons, Dires, Melusines, and Fairies could only kill the vile, godlike beast if they brought that barrier, or whatever it was, down. Reagaltiel focused on keeping the astral chain intact despite gnawing exhaustion as he decided to change their tactics. A test would prove whether or not they would lose the last opportunity or not he decided. **_

"_**Everyone, let's all use a Regulus burst at the same time. Let's act as one being to see if we can make a hole in that barrier."**_

_**The rest of his temple priests bellowed their agreement and all began to focus on the same goal, raising more power from the Regulus star to forge it into a single whole. Their song merged into a single note as the power focused into a single point under Reagaltiel's direct command. **_

_**Pride swelled in Reagaltiel's heart at their willingness to follow his shouted command. He cast the final motions into their group spell, and prayed it would also keep the spiraling darkness recoiling into itself alongside Sertatsie and Vraylinish's attack. A satisfactory boom followed as the golden mass of combined holy power collided with the black, twisting, force of destruction. It was far from perfect, but the drawn back reaction of the black vortex was genuine. His conviction solidified as he began to plan a more solidified attack plan. **_

"_**Our numbers doing the same exact spell simultaneously is the only option we have to bring that barrier down. It does real damage. We need to keep working together until our timing becomes a single being. Everyone with me?"**_

"_**I'm going to go out of control soon. I can't keep drawing on Regulus without combusting, Reagaltiel." One of the priests managed to pant out. **_

"_**Can you get to the other temples and tell them we've discovered a way to combine power with a single spell to drive that monster back?" Reagaltiel asked trying to determine who had spoken.**_

_**To his left, an older priest leaning over and gripping his knees nodded as he continued to gasp. "I think I can do that much. I simply can't hold the trance any longer. I'm just not strong enough."**_

"_**Then find the nearest temple leader and see if we can't get everyone working on the same attack strategy. Tell them to keep the information moving to every other temple while you're at it."**_

_**The small elder turned and jogged toward the next cluster of people which had to be their sister or brother temple. The Leo Constellation priests began drawing again on their astral connection to the stars that ruled their power and worked on the next spell as a unit. Flinging the second much larger unified spell got a worthwhile result. The powerful blackness actually stalled. **_

_**Grinning with a fresh ignition of hope, Reagaltiel ordered the next attack sequence. His group began their next song as they complied with his song choice. They still had a chance if all the temples could work together. Sertatsie's still somewhat visible hide swooped back into his line of sight as the spell was on the verge of completion. Reagaltiel decided to try and land their spell in the same vicinity as the One Power attack he knew was coming. Timing would be everything as he strained to the utmost to curb the power that he was merging together from all his companions. Twin lances of force exploded from Sertastie's place, other dragons hurling fire, lightning, and all elements they commanded to hit within the same area. With all his strength of will, way, and word, Reagaltiel drove the new spell at the monster, aiming with the astral chains to hit the same area.**_

_**A blast of black power exploded the land beneath their feet, knocking Reagaltiel from his feet before his team's attack made contact. Boulders flew into the air as people of all races were flung in all directions. From the corner of his eye, as Reagaltiel struggled back onto his knees, he saw a large whitish form crash into the ground. Roughly twenty paces before his face, an arm, including a large chunk of exposed shoulder blade bone, hit ground and rolled to a stop. A vivid tattoo of a broken winged Fairy faced him. It was a tattoo he knew far too intimately for comfort. Only one such Fey curse mark existed, and Vraylinish was the one who bore it. **_

_**Utter calm and inhuman numbness erupted like a geyser from his core to swamp his being as Reagaltiel recognized the arm before bloody mud covered the tattoo upon the severed limb. His existence shuddered under despair so vast he could not comprehend any emotion at all. Vraylinish was obsessed with keeping her word to anyone she gave it to, and had vowed to return to him as soon as they won. Yet nobody existed who could survive the damage implied by that amputated limb. She was now part of the bloody mist and mud falling from the sky as far as he knew. It was the only explanation.**_

_**Reagaltiel scarce registered getting onto his feet. All he knew was that the black power before him had taken the only woman he could ever love without reservation. His connection to Regulus remained, and he dropped much deeper into the power trance as he pulled everything he could from his distant star. Nothing mattered except stopping the Abyss Lord now. He had no promises left to keep aside from stopping this monster. Life was no longer important to Reagaltiel. He had nothing to lose if he died calling on multiple stars at once. **_

_**The Abyss Lord had crossed the one line that should never be breached. The beast had taken the world Reagaltiel lived for away from him in an instant. Locking into a rhythm he had never dared explore before that he sensed within the distant stars, the Leo constellation priest flung open all of his power centers to fuse with the astral chain to maximum the power he could contain. Without hesitation he drew upon it with the sum of his being. It was said that the Phoenix could be summoned if a person tapped deep enough starlight. He was willing to die to call upon the most powerful being of legends to seal or destroy this menace. No matter what the legend might demand as payment, including his life, Reagaltiel would give it gladly to spare others from his own loss. All that mattered was getting revenge by stopping the beast.**_

_**Every power center in his body resonated with power, the astral chain thickening as Reagaltiel continued to draw harder upon the Constellation link he had woven and awoken over thirteen years. His mind focused on his task to the exclusion of all else. Scents and screams fell away from Reagaltiel's awareness. The pain of drawing so much power should have been excruciating, but Reagaltiel noticed nothing beyond the horrific blackness spinning ever closer. His mind, and heart were so focused upon stopping the enemy before him he had no room inside himself to feel. Locked inside his deepest recesses, the Star Singer reached through the astral chains, lifting his attention ever higher as he sought a miracle their world needed. **_

_**All constellation temple high priests learned the forbidden song of the Phoenix, yet none ever dared to use it. Reagaltiel's own father had taught it to him, as his father had learned it from his father before him. Digging into core reserves and entrenching his determination, Reagaltiel began to sing the chanted words, infused with stubborn will to draw the ruler of all stars to their world. "Web of Power become the Web of Light raised by my hands,**_

_**Answer the call ye stars of ancient fire far above all lands. Called by the joining of forces strong and sure to this final task."**_

_**Golden, fiery light engulfed Reagaltiel's vision as the power overflowed from his body, spilling out to spite his determination to hold onto every drop for the final casting of the spell. Unable to see anything, he focused everything within himself even more securely onto achieving his goal. The pain was breaking through the numbness, but Reagaltiel refused to stop now that he had made the decision to win even though it would kill him. "I beseech and join the directions North to South with those of East to West. We call upon the universe, deem us mages trained and skilled. Let the Stars decide the form, the perfect pattern of the web that we build."**_

_**The lack of a future did not bother Reagaltiel as he ignored screaming nerve endings and dove into his deepest self to continue his chosen work. He felt his soul ascending the astral chain at an increasing speed while the words continued to flow from his soul without hesitation. "Let life and peace be our parting gift to generations yet to be. Grant us the wisdom of a magic trap that no evil can repeal. You stars are like we who've felt your touch, you are our magic's guiding light. To save all life, mighty Phoenix, we are those prepared to fight and die. We shall create a circle one last time as we seek to raise creation's power, to make concrete the trap which must endure after our flesh is gone. Teach us to light the darkest hour."**_

_**The physical stars were circling around Reagaltiel, instead of flying far above as he had always viewed them before. A powerful, indescribably beautiful song of power flowed around Reagaltiel. A glance down showed him a vast yet round world, the place he had known all his life. The astral chain remained, tethering him to the physical world that he swore he would save. Soon a brilliant and unexpected light flowed up to join him. Unlike the golden fire of his own being, this one was aquamarine in color. Other lights were ascending along astral chains that Reagaltiel saw clearly for the first time. Each rapidly ascending light shone in different rainbow colors, representing the star constellations of each major temple. Each light must be a constellation temple High Priest whom had chosen the same path as himself. As he counted the ascending lights Reagaltiel realized that there were sixteen of them who had chosen to follow his lead. "Let the enemy challenge not our Web of Light through evil designs. We ascend into a circle one last time to raise the stars' full power, Weave a prison that shall endure after flesh is gone to shine bright through our darkest hour. Please answer mighty Phoenix and fulfill our one desire."**_

_**His Phoenix summoning song was ending Reagaltiel realized as he pushed his awareness outward, seeking a vastly wise being among the stars to give them the answer to a much needed victory. He connected with some kind of sentience that he could not begin to comprehend. It felt as if the very depths of darkness which he floated within were detaching, coalescing in the center of the solidifying ring of power raised by all the temples most powerful priests. The sum of the stars were flowing, shifting, and forming into tighter patterns against an inky canvas of nothing. Spirals of light with many colors began to form what looked like glittering clouds as the Phoenix took on a discernable form.**_

_**Still too numb to feel fear, Reagaltiel watched in fascination as the overwhelming spiritual force of the stars became a flaming bird that remained somewhat as black as the depths of the stars home, while burning with a light that none could withstand. Vast numbers of voices rang in his mind as one force, devastating Reagaltiel's perceptions. **_

"_**I know why you have called upon me, Star Children. You're courage and love are worthy of becoming accepted as the living embodiments of the stars with which you are aligned by nature. Are you willing to be the Guardians of the worlds, embracing the chains and locks that will forever bind the Destroyer in silence?"**_

_**Reagaltiel spoke first. "To save the lives of the innocent and prevent any more suffering I will gladly do whatever you require of me."**_

"_**Spoken ans only the Embedment of Leo should speak."**_

_**Other voices echoed his sentiment in their own voices, some female, other's male. Each was answered by the Phoenix in turn as their constellations were named. **_

"_**As you are willing to become the prison for the Destroyer, so shall I aide you in binding the destruction of all realms and worlds away. It shall not touch the lives that you love unconditionally. You are the Guardians of the Constellations, the soul of the stars. You will sing with the stars which you adore for eternity. Their power is your own. Their knowledge shall you forever know. All that you need shall be provided to sustain you hence forth as you have agreed to sacrifice all for the salvation of all worlds."**_

_**The Phoenix grabbed Reagaltiel's astral chain and dove into his world's atmosphere, collecting the other sixteen chains as it descended at an impossible speed. Everything moved too fast for Reagaltiel to see. He gritted his teeth and maintained his concentration upon his chain. His astral chain connection was being flooded by immense power that came from Regulus and all the stars that created the constellation of Leo. Never had he dreamed of this kind of power, but he was determined to stay in control of every drop. Reagaltiel still had one last promise to keep. **_

_**The Phoenix dove into the whirling blackness, while Reagaltiel and the other priests were told to focus on wrapping their astral star chains around the tornado that was killing everyone. Comprehension flowed into his mind as he saw the pattern he needed to help create. No longer fettered by a physical body, Reagaltiel used the abundant power flowing through his soul body to fly as commanded by the Phoenix, turning his star chain into a weapon of binding. Winding and dipping, leaping upward, and dropping down as the chain wrapped more firmly around the dark tornado of power, Reagaltiel focused upon tightening the chain. All the stars power aided him in keeping the chain from breaking as he made each pass. Others flashed and flowed in their directed weave to crisscross his own pattern, their chains weaving over and beneath each other to force a ball of sorts to form around the Abyss Lord.**_

_**Not much land remained of a once lush small continent reagaltiel noted with sorrow. The last of the massive army of warriors that had come here were broken, and waiting for their deaths it seemed. Although he was hesitant to trap the Phoenix's exist at the top, he felt himself getting told to obey. Finishing the weave, the various Priests were again in a circle, standing upon the wall of chains they had woven. From beneath their position they felt a massive upheaval. Unsure of the cause, they faintly heard the Phoenix command them to drag the sphere into the air. Drawing heavily on the power of his constellation, Reagaltiel was yet again the first to ascend into the air, reaching toward his beloved stars. A massive flash of light swept past them as they fought to obey the Phoenix. The power tore through his awareness, and all his intentions, and awareness tumbled into oblivion.**_

Jerking upright, Loki gasped for air. Eyes blinking rapidly, he took in his surroundings. Recognition of the great library hit him. How many thousands of years had it been since they had become the Celestial Spirits? Loki could no longer recall as he yawned and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. All he knew was that he was getting sick of the nightmare that had robbed him of his original life, and real hope for so very long. He had not dreamt of such things for centuries, but the nightmare was back ten fold.

For the first time since he became a Celestial Spirit, Reagaltiel/Loki felt a strong emotional draw to a human being that gave him real hope and joy. Lucy reminded him of the long dead Vraylinish on several levels. Loki was not going to let the first true light in centuries die young. Lucy had the strength to do the impossible if she lived long enough to learn her true abilities. For all Loki knew, Lucy could be Vraylinish's latest reincarnation. He was not going to lose this chance to spend time with the reborn version of the woman he had once loved more than life.

Although Loki accepted that he had long ago ceased to be Reagaltiel, he still wished to see the miraculous happen twice. Lucy could provide such a miracle if she had the time to change the world as her predecessor before her. Of that much Loki was certain. Until he met Lucy Heartfilia, Loki had been empty inside. Now that his hope had been reborn, Loki feared his fragile gains would again be crushed under ancient despair.

"Why didn't someone wake me up?"

"You've been doing this research the longest. Exhausted eyes miss details so it was wiser to let you cat nap, Leo." Libra responded from a precarious perch halfway up the massive book case. Loki was so tired that he barely recalled when she had started helping them find details on the mystery illness Lucy had contracted. Having increased his energy shift to shore up Lucy, he was feeling the strain despite it only being a few hours by the Celestial World's concept of time. A quick calculation reminded Loki that roughly two weeks had passed in Earthland.

"Has anyone found anything to cure Lucy yet?"

"I'm sorry, but I haven't found anything useful. I'm so sorry for failing Lucy sama like this." Aries answered.

"You're trying your hardest to help her and I know Lucy will appreciate your efforts. We'll figure out a way to get Lucy well." Loki replied as he stretched in his seat, vertebrae cracking to realign.

Capricorn was frowning as he replaced a book, and pulled another from a shelf farther down the aisle. "I have only found the description of this same illness because of Lucy's mother, Layla, dying from it. Layla's the only other recorded case in this library. However, nobody was able to determine why Layla became so ill when she displayed the same symptoms. None of the Earthland physicians or healers were able to determine why her health failed so quickly. It is possible that nothing in this library can help us heal Lucy sama."

"Keep looking and don't give up! It has to be here somewhere!" Loki bellowed at his fellow spirits as his fists slammed into the table. "We've got to figure out how to cure Lucy before it's too late!"

Crux floated down from his lofty perch near the top of the library's vast collection. "We're doing all we can to learn more about our Princess's illness. To be very honest, I know this library better than all of you combined. Capricorn's correct. The information isn't in this part of the library. The only place none of us have investigated from bottom to top is the Contracts archive, and the Royal Archive where the Star Singer's lineage books are kept."

Loki abandoned his chair to prevent himself from breaking the furniture as his temper threatened to escape his tenuous control. Virgo walked into his line of sight and spoke. "The contracts archive isn't going to have anything but lists of all the contracts we've held through the centuries. The Royal archive won't be of any use because the bloodline records are from before we agreed that the Star Singers and Constellation temple lineages had to go into hiding to survive Zeref's slaughter several centuries ago. It hasn't gotten updated in centuries to protect everyone's mortal family descendants."

While pacing the length of the enclosed aisle, Loki spat. "Bloodlines are completely useless unless they reveal an ongoing defect. The Royal Archive doesn't have anything but who begat who variety information. We've got to figure out why Lucy is getting so weak and sick all of a sudden. All we know right now is that the symptoms match what happened to her mother. Is there any other connection or similarity that we're overlooking?"

"None that I am aware of. The illness seems hereditary. None of us are able to stop natural diseases that run within certain bloodlines, Leo. We cannot deny that this could be an illness that runs through her specific family due to the lack of information in this library. Lucy sama's mother was the only other one to ever get these exact symptoms. Although I agree we should do all we can for Lucy sama, we must be prepared to lose her when the disease runs it's course." Capricorn lectured him with a sorrowful tone.

"Nothing is matching the poisons section either. I think we can rule that possibility out since I read everything twice over." Scorpio growled fro his place against a book case.

"We will figure out a way to save Lucy even if we haven't found the answer . . . yet. Letting Lucy die so young is not acceptable. She's done too much for all of us . . . including saving us when we got corrupted. Right now, Lucy is hurting because of Aquarius's death. The least we can do is ease as much of her pain as possible, Damn it!" Loki growled as his hand raked through his hair.

"We all agree with you, big brother. Thinking to ease our Princess's symptoms while we find the cure, I looked up medicines that might help. Several have come to my attention during this research mission. Perhaps they can help our Princess by slowing the spread of whatever ails her." Virgo stepped closer and held out a stack of hand written notes.

Loki took the sheets as he blew out a harsh breath. "Thanks for these remedies. I think this is a good start. Can't help but think we've missed something very important, and I can't stand not knowing what the missing information is. Let's keep searching for any clues that we may have overlooked. I'll see if Ophiuchus will make these medications for Lucy. His Majesty might have some ideas about what is happening to Lucy also. So, I'm going to speak to him in case he may have an idea about how to solve this puzzle."

Soft groans were heard, but none of the spirits actually complained. Everyone headed to various corners of the library to resume their research. Loki stomped toward the exit intent upon talking to their King, and tracking down the Spirit World's resident medical expert.

~~oo0oo~~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Present time

Staring at the glistening white wood tree rapidly growing in the center of the magma river flowing around his home needled Igneel's pride. _'Sertatsie's so damned demanding and impossible! None of us are capable of creating such living testaments to the ancient, one magic. Such magic was lost close to five millennia ago. Now she's trying to order all us around as if she has the right because of her One magic knowledge! The knowledge was lost when almost all of the magical races became extinct. Only the most ancient dragons believed this kind of power and knowledge ever existed before she contacted us.'_

Smoke curled around his snout as Igneel continued to glare at the offensive tree that mocked him. He sought to distract his reeling mind from all that he had learned over the last day and a half of constant mental communication with the whole dragon race. He was too tired to continue listening to the bickering. His mind shied from the prophesies and conclusions. Igneel wanted to retreat to think after he ate and rested a bit. His mind wandered from the main debate as his eyes hung upon the image of the magically created tree that kept offending his sense of rightness.

'_Trees aren't meant to grow and thrive in rivers of lava without some type of barrier magic. Still, her blasted tree doesn't have any barrier around it, and it's growing at an impossible speed right in front of all our mind spheres. We all see this happening, and unless I find the way to stop this panic, the Ancient Guardian Queen is going to be collectively attacked by the anti human faction once they find her. We have no choice but accept that the ancient Creation Queen has awoken from her timeless sleep as prophesy said she would. Now that we know the truth, we have to do whatever is needed to keep the prison inviolate.' _

Sertatsie had proven herself to be the real Creation Dragon by creating impossible life forms that were verified by multiple dragons. As if the shock of her sudden mental appearance was not stressful enough, she had launched into a brutal, emergency meeting of the last one hundred dragons alive as if she still ruled them. Her power had flared through one hundred mind orbs simultaneously to unleash impossible things for each of them to touch and study within their own territories.

Each shimmering orb glowing before Igneel was another dragon's thoughts. All of their remaining race had gotten the summons that had fallen into a disastrous gridlock because Sertatsie was simply overwhelming them all with fast paced explanations and horrifying memories of the past that none of them could fully grasp. Igneel only had created a single orb to link into the old female before she took over and linked him to all the other dragons, without his permission. Still, he knew everyone else saw his orb which he had only actively sent to Sertatsie's location. Of all Sertatsie's long distance creations, the tree in his front yard most flabbergasted them all as they shared images of his demanded confirmation of her authenticity.

Sertatsie had made her case, and shared memories to try to get them to cooperate. All pretense of dragon unity had collapsed the moment it became knowledge that humans were the living locks and chains that fed the seal upon the unspeakable evil trying to return. Human life force had kept the vile evil trapped for almost five thousand years, before any living dragon in this meeting was born. Nothing in Sertatsie's arguments could sway the anti human faction once that part of ancient history came to light. Human hating dragons were too stubborn for their own good the Fire Dragon King decided with a fiery snort.

Igneel glared at the respectable collection of orbs floating before him as his tail tip lashed the innocent ground. Fear had taken control of many of their number, leading to constant bickering and insults hurled between the two dragon factions. Despite Sertatsie being the only dragon to survive multiple millennia, the anti human dragons continued to argue against having anything to do with human locks and chains that kept an unimaginably destructive sentience trapped inside a pocket dimension. They were coming up with every excuse imaginable to deny that there was a serious crisis developing under their collective noses. To Igneel, they were no better than fresh hatchlings in need of being tail thumped until they behaved in an acceptably mature fashion.

Granted, the ancient female had not communicated with anyone since Igneel's great, great Grand Dam, and Sire's births, at least two thousand years before he was even an egg. Even he felt she had a lot of nerve to suddenly show up and make demands after ignoring her own species for thousands of years. The Dragon Lore had proclaimed that she would only awaken from a Fairy induced magical slumber when the world was facing complete annihilation. All dragons knew their most ancient Queen would only return in an extreme emergency from the time they were hatchlings. However, hearing the actual legend's voice was unsettling to say the least.

Witnessing her insane power was frightening. None of them wanted to accept that she was real and bringing bad news of this kind either. Only one hundred dragons still existed, scattered to the farthest reaches of the world to avoid human hunters. To Igneel's thinking, any attempt to stop the crisis she described was not only impossible, it was tantamount to hurtling headlong into suicide if her descriptions and memories of the Abyss Lord of antiquity were even remotely true. They lacked numbers needed for such a fight. Many of the remaining dragons were too old to have enough stamina to even contribute much to such a ferocious war.

One thing was clear, their first queen's wings, and left front leg were completely destroyed, her other fore leg damaged to the point she could not walk. Her body sported many semi fresh looking wounds that reeked of a wrongness the likes none of them had ever encountered. The evil power infecting her body was obviously dampened considerably as images flowed through her mental power orbs. Such balls of power currently linked all of the dragon race's minds as one. She said the injuries came from the very monster she demanded that her many times removed grand children stop without fail. Unimaginable power was trying to awaken, and if Sertatsie's still seeping wounds were any indicator, it was easy to understand how all the once plentiful magical, and immortal, races got butchered in a matter of days during their all out war to stop the Immortal Destroyer.

Out of the millions of beings who once lived, breathed, and hurled magic like water, only the smallest numbers, the youngest magical children, had survived the prison's creation. Harder to believe was the role that humans had in the creation and maintenance of the prison. Now, everyone was struggling to handle news that the prison was about to be broken by the evil powers that existed within their world. Tempers were frayed, and dragons were never very logical during a panic.

According to Sertatsie, the last ancient children had done what they could to rebuild everything destroyed by a being rumored to have no solid body. The only good news was that some fighters had survived the war, and had entered enchanted, time suspended sleep before their kind became truly extinct. Those warriors vowed to prevent the return of the Abyss Lord after strengthening the Web of Life as best they could. Humans and dragons had been exempted from timeless sleep as they alone had fast enough reproductive abilities to safeguard the prison dimension's chains and locks, the Star Singers who had vanished several hundred years ago thanks to Zeref's meddling.

With the last handful of Fairy children, and other races immanent return at hand, a desperate last stand might be possible, but remained iffy. An energy being with intelligence was hell bent on destruction. From hat Sertatsie showed them, it seemed hard wired to return all creation to a state of nothingness to Igneel's thinking. Such a menace was the last thing a hundred dragons, and a few dozen ancient immortals could stop without serious cooperation with all life, including the plentiful human mages.

Frustrated as he returned his attention to the snarling babble surrounding him, Igneel roared at the collective orbs drifting in his small clearing. "I am well aware that to prevent a second dragon war we all agreed to keep our snouts out of human affairs! None of us have interfered with humanity unless it was to break Acnologia as per our agreement. However, this is a crisis situation and not a human affair even if Star Singers are only born among humans. We must work together to prevent the Abyss Lord from getting loose a second time! We can't . . ."

". . . Nothing you say proves that the Abyss Lord's prison will open any time soon, Ancient one. And you have no right to add your tainted, human loving opinions right now, Igneel." Motherglare's sphere interjected.

Sertatsie's voice thrummed with a steady pulse of power. "The truth is what it is no matter your desire to hide, little Mother. Celestial Magic has been sealed by the Dark powers with the exception of the Star Singers as the Fairy Queen warned would happen. I know all of you were warned by your elders that this would happen once the majority of Star Singer blood lines were killed off by the puppet of the Abyss Lord. Each generation was told the World's End prophesy that the Fairy High Queen proclaimed with her dying breath for a reason. Only the Star Singer bloodlines can still use the power you call Celestial magic because the astral chain links to the prison were not broken. Of the few remaining Star Singers, only two hold the Original Sacrificial Keys as far as we can determine. The Celestial Spirits who were once human remain instrumental in sealing the Abyss Lord's destruction away. They selflessly destroyed their bodies and souls in their star power to give all of us the means to complete the light cage they created. Now their already taxed powers are the Star Singers last defense against dark mages since their existence has become a beacon. The mortal Singers' deaths will throw open the prison door. What part of this do you not understand?"

"Humans are nothing like you have described them, Ancient Queen. They are mean spirited and destructive pests that need to be put in their place! They don't deserve anything from us, especially our protection. The Celestial Spirits are an entirely different matter. I'm certain we can all agree they deserve any aide we dragons can give them since they no longer qualify as humans." A male dragon snarled.

"Celestial Spirits are very altered humans who were instrumental in sealing away the Abyss Lord's prison according to you, Ancient Queen. Is this correct?" Igneel recognized his son's voice as Rhodonite questioned the Eldest Queen.

From his first clutch with Grandeeney, their eleventh son had earned his reputation for his obsession with gaining knowledge. The prime aged male had no fear of seeking knowledge from any place possible. At least one of Igneel's elder children would seek a solution considering how much knowledge Rhodonite had amassed over the last three hundred and sixty years.

"Correct. It took the last of our combined power, mixed with their raw star force under the Phoenix' guidance to create the pocket dimension. We split the dimension into two sections, the actual prison, and the Celestial Spirits new home realm. We were trying to give added security to those who agreed to be enslaved for all eternity as the guardians of the prison by merging their sentience into their constellations to keep the power flowing."

"If the Celestial Spirits are still remotely humans, then they can rot for all I care. Humans are a plague on this world's body that should be exterminated." Another male snarled.

"How dare you disrespect the humans who were willing to throw away their bodies, and existence to insure that new generations would live?! Only Star Singer blood can maintain the prison of light that prevents the Abyss Lord from gaining access to any realm and killing all life. The Star Singers cannot harness their real power because it's almost fully trapped in maintaining the pocket dimension's Sixteen Temple Seals. The human locks can only tap leftover magic for their defense if they are attacked. If these remaining humans become extinct, all life will cease to exist, everywhere among the stars, starting with Earthland!"

Scissor Runner's globe pulsed, displeasure dripping from his tone. "The humans have their precious Magic Guilds with abominations to protect their Star Singers. Let them sort out their own mess since the ones trying to open the prison are also human. I say we do no more than make the worthless pests aware of the situation they've all created. Or perhaps you wish us to destroy the fools among us who adore humans so much that they created abominations in the first place? Since you insist that we break our agreement to leave humans alone unless Acnologia is involved . . . should we also assume you likewise are a blind, senile fool, and human lover, Oh Ancient Queen?"

"Threats mean nothing to me you arrogant fledgling. Crippled as I am, I'm anything but defenseless. Come, and let us settle your little Alpha attitude. Your faction will learn how dangerous it is to provoke me once you die."

"Scissor Runner makes a valid point, Ancient Queen. Humans have been doing all in their collective power to send the last of us into extinction like the other races. It is difficult to believe in them after having to fight for our very survival over the centuries." A female voice entered the debate.

A resigned snort filled the tense air. Sertatsie answered the younger female's comment after several moments of silence. "We are well aware that the Abyss Lord has gained control of numerous humans over the millenniums. However, that said, none of you are willing to understand that they are the Abyss Lord's puppets, not random humans, that have caused the problems you've endured."

"So humans get a free pass to attack and slaughter our hatchlings and fledglings because you've decided to excuse them without fail? Do you believe that excuse is any way to prove yourself one of us, Ancient Queen?"

Igneel's tail whipped ever faster as he tried to contain his rage. Sertatsie was by far be the oldest among them, yet Scissor Runner's condescending tone made his fangs ache to rip his old opponent's throat out. Igneel detested the constant disrespect shown their first queen, even if he also found her somewhat irritating. Sertatsie's legendary wisdom had again failed to gain any concessions from the anti human faction.

Grandeeney's orb flared as she spoke her mind. "Of all the magical races who once ruled this world, we dragons alone retain a viable breeding number. However, our current numbers are too few to stop the Abyss Lord if we fail to protect the last Star Singers. This world will be destroyed unless everyone stops sulking! At least some of us had the fore thought to teach human children enough of our magic to help protect the remnant Singers!"

Igneel was fed up with this endless circle of bickering. "Enough! We cannot ignore the Fairy Prophesy which seems to be coming true." He growled deep in his chest before continuing, "We'll tell the humans of the prophesy, and make it clear that the last remaining Celestial Mages are the Star Singers. Once they know that the Singers are the living locks, I'm certain the human guilds will protect them at all costs. From there, we will wait to see how well the humans handle things. We will only interfere if the Light guilds cannot stop their dark mages from jeopardizing the sixteen prison seals. Is that an acceptable compromise?"

Atlas Flame's reddish gold sphere flared. "What about Natsu, and the other dragon children? Are we to forsake all the human sons and daughters who adore us as their family just to avoid fighting among ourselves, Igneel?"

"I can only offer such a compromise because I believe in my adopted son's strength and determination to protect all life. Natsu's the reason that you're alive today as I recall. Because he changed your mind about humans, you were in hiding during Acnologia's final rampage. I choose to believe in all my allies children also. They each have the pride and determination of us dragons. They'll successfully protect all the Star Singers once they locate them." Igneel answered.

Skiadrum's blackish blue sphere pulsed. "Rogue thinks he killed me as per my command, so I dare not contact him. Yet, through touching his mind, I've noticed that there are strange new dragon slayers that the humans are creating without us. They weren't created through direct contact, and training. It seems humans can use dragon power trapped in gems implanted within their bodies. Even Rogue has accepted such a gem into his body to increase his magic strength. Perhaps we who have human children should create more such gems for our children to increase their power?"

Another darker orb pulsed with harsh wheezing draconic laughter. "I was pulled through that time gate to face your wimpy little slayer, Skiadrum. None of your little abominations, including those who have gem implants, are capable of protecting the Star Singers. We should gather the important enough little pests up, and scatter them in isolated locations across this world to preserve the sixteen seals by ourselves."

Atlas snorted with heavy contempt. "Funny that you brought that up, Dark Dagastolia. Considering I was there, I know first hand what my nephew can do when angry enough. He damaged Motherglare's hide, and even knocked her out after I got him airborne so he could fight that half trained excuse of a Dragon Master that Motherglare was fawning over. So much for her human hating if you ask me."

"For your information I never stopped hating humans. If anything I hate them far more than before thanks to being ensorcelled by that Dragon Master. I lost half of my children because of those bloody humans also!"

"Well, had you not attacked the humans, Natsu would never have pounded your scales into powder. He still loves us, and it made him very unhappy to fight us. At least I know Natsu proved his strength beyond doubt to you, Motherglare. Do you really think he would fail to protect any Star Singer in his care after having faced off with him?" Atlas demanded.

"I fear that Igneel's brat will be transformed sooner instead of later. Placing a Star Singer in his care could well lead young Natsu down the pathway that destroys any hold he has upon his power and sanity." Motherglare snarled.

The long silent rock dragon spoke in a thoughtful tone. "Zirconis admitted right after our return to our correct time that the pair of half trained slayers he faced did enough damage to make them a serious problem if they ever master our magic. If the current Dragon Slayers, including the false ones, received advanced training from any of us, they could very well prevent the Abyss Lord from getting free by being a force capable of stopping the Abyss Lord's puppets. Isn't that the goal we can all agree upon, if nothing else?"

"Wonderful. Now you fools want us to help create a small army of Acnologias while we're at it!" Dark dragon Dagastolia's orb crackled.

"My dear nephew would never act like Acnologia. Natsu isn't weak willed, or easily corrupted like that fool was when he was still a human. Igneel chose well when he chose to raise Natsu, and I won't tolerate you insulting our young fire slayer." Atlas roared as flames shot out of his orb. "If anything, Natsu would make a wonderful edition to dragon kind if the power ever does force the transformation."

Sertatsie's orb flared with such blinding light that all the orbs were lost in rainbow hued brilliance. "Silence, whelps! I dare say the lot of you are scarce worth my time! If this is how you wish to act, so be it! I'll awaken the rest of the Elysian Guard to do what must be done. The new dragon kind cannot find the courage to set aside petty bickering for the greater good so it shall fall to those of us who have real courage it seems. Besides, if this ongoing argument is only due to some crackbrained fear of the humans transforming into dragons, I have sleeping Fairy companions who can easily prevent that outcome!"

Soft murmurs gained volume as the brilliance eased, allowing communication between the arguing factions to resume. "How can your Fairy companions stop the transformation, Ancient Queen?" A quieter female asked before Igneel had a chance.

"So, you have even forgotten the Fairy race's most basic powers it seems. I'll have to explain so you can understand. I'm quite certain that it is possible to use Fairy Soul Binding on powerful Dragon Slayers. Soul Binding can be done between them and someone who has their complimentary magic frequency, perhaps even a Star Singer. Fairies have always soul bonded their mates to bear children. In fact, they have bonded every race, including select humans during their reign in this world. Half bloods like She Wolf were fairly common before the Abyss Lord. Many Bane Warrior survivors can use ancient Fairy magic and know precisely how to bind souls to insure that no such transformations can happen to your Dragon Slayers."

"We learned the lore claiming that high born fairies used powerful magical bonding so they could have children, Sertatsie. Still, I fail to see how your idea can prevent a Dragon Slayer from falling victim to their own power going berserk and transforming them if they ever lose control." Igneel grumbled at the ancient's sphere.

"Soul Binding would prevent the dragon power from transforming the Slayer's body because the of instinctive power balancing that happens. If a Star Singer were compatible all the better because the berserk power would be drained to maintain the Abyss Lord's prison. In fact I insist on seeing if Star Singers are compatible first because Soul Binding can be set up to automatically bleed off such power before it can manifest as physical changes. The Soul bond automatically shifts and balances power to strengthen the one who most needs the influx. Star Singers are trapped in a constant, instinctive battle to maintain their specific astral chain even if they don't know they have one. Furthermore, soul binding should insure a new generation of much stronger Star Singers getting born. Never forget that the Star Singers have always been human. The few left must be saved, yet kept among humans if only because their deaths, especially without offspring, guarantees the Abyss Lord's freedom."

Metalicana broke his silence. "Do our children have any say in whom they will be magically soul bound to in this scheme of yours, Sertatsie?"

"Only if the Star Singer has a compatible power frequency to their own can such a binding to take place. At this time, I don't know the condition of any of the Star Singers so cannot get to them. I'll have Nadhasti open a gate to send me to their location once one of you youngsters find the Singers for me. We know the two strongest have the Sacrificial keys. Find them first, and call me. From there, my allies can determine their soul song frequencies, and match up power and soul frequencies between Slayers and Singers, or other magic users who compliment them. Unless it involves an extreme emergency, I will gladly insure your Slayers have a choice of accepting or rejecting any compatible Soul Bond once they know the importance of such a measure."

Metalicana snorted in disgust. "Why do I have the feeling that this plan of yours is going to go very wrong, Sertatsie?"

Igneel agreed with the taciturn, and often self absorbed iron dragon but held his tongue. "So which of us is going to the Fairy Tail Guild? Three of us have children residing there so it is the logical place to hand over information to humanity."

Metalicana startled him. "I'll do it. I'm the closest to Magnolia City."

Grandeeney chuckled. "Have a nice reunion with your son. Please tell my darling Wendy that I think of her often."

"What's in it for me, Grandeeney?"

"Whatever do you desire that I possess, Metalicana?"

"Good question. Let me think about it, and get back to you."

"Of course. I'll be waiting."

"I suppose you have some sappy message for that brat of yours also, Igneel." Metalicana grumbled.

"No. Natsu hears me whenever I choose to mind speak with him. Since you will be visiting your son, please have them inform any other Dragon Slayers of the situation while you are there. It would be most efficient if we can collect all the Slayers and Singers in one location at this point. Having to repeat ourselves a few dozen times will only wear on all of our nerves, plus waste valuable time."

Another torrent of muttering and growling filed the air surrounding Igneel. It was obvious that the others found his comment about mind speaking with Natsu unsettling. Although it was a rare human that could hear their dragon parent's thoughts long distance, Igneel's bond with Natsu had remained strong enough in the lad's heart for him to stay in touch. It was yet another thing that set his adopted son apart from the other children. Natsu's pure heart and powerful instincts made him much more dragon than the other Slayers. Igneel could only hope that the female he might be bound to if Sertatsie got her way was the one he had sensed that Natsu's heart adored.

"Hrumph, fine. I'm sure my brat can manage that much. I'm off to warn the humans about this mess before the Star Singers get killed." The metallic hued ball vanished.

"Seems we must have a temporary truce with the humans until this crisis is behind us." Motherglare spoke into the stillness.

"Regrettable, but it may become necessary if certain dragons' stupid abominations screw up. We cannot lose the Star Singers to dark mage hands at this point."

Igneel mentally chuckled at the depressed anti human faction leader's voice. Scissor Runner would never change his mind without being coerced by very extreme situations. All of them knew that this was such an extreme. Orbs winked out one after the next as Igneel withdrew his own thought projection from Sertatsie's control. They had managed a tentative consensus. It was enough for the moment.

The Fire King stretched his wings, and body after crouching for so long focused upon projecting his thoughts. Igneel built a mental picture of his adopted son, but found he could not keep the mental image clear enough to alert his Slayer of Metalicana's impending visit. Too much of the dragon's magic was expended during the long conference.

A meal and nap were in order Igneel decided. Leaping into the air with a snap of massive wings, the red dragon sheered to the left and caught several hot updrafts rising from the lava streams below. The forest at the foot of his high range plateau would supply the meat he needed to sate his hunger. Aware of numerous caverns along this particular volcanic chain, Igneel decided to begin his journey after he took a replenishing nap.

Swooping down upon a herd of giant, long haired oxen that had wandered to the river for a drink, Igneel chose a large bull for his meal. Wheeling in the sky above the panicking herd, Igneel lengthened out his hind legs, talons extending, wings tucked tight against his hide. Whipping his body around, Igneel struck hard and fast, claws sinking into the thick hide of the bull's neck and back as his body flashed past. With a hard clenching of his claws, and a hard series of wing beats to regain altitude, Igneel felt the animal's spine shatter. A clean kill was always best. It prevented the meat from souring from the animal's struggles from fear. Satisfied with his hunt, the fire dragon climbed higher and soared to a cliff that would accommodate his size, and settled in to eat.

As he tore strips of meat from the carcass, his mind considered the future. _'Perhaps Natsu can change more of the anti human faction's collective opinion about humans as this crisis gets resolved. He's nothing like Acnologia. It's unfortunate that Acnologia has taught Scissor Runner, and the rest of the anti human faction such a deep hatred of humans. Acnologia alone should have to answer for their blind hatred.' _

Scissor Runner was among the few dragons with a hotter temper than himself, and Igneel knew it. The agony of losing his first mate and their clutch before it hatched had robbed Scissor Runner of his sanity for almost two hundred years. Only after their hatchlings left the nest did the mind merge of the dragon parents soften, and release the mated pair to continue with their preferred solitary lives.

Igneel could not fault the other male for resenting Dragon Slayers after Acnologia killed his mate and defenseless eggs. Brooding mothers would never abandon their unborn as their instincts were overwhelming during the clutching stage. Males brought food and comfort to their brooding mates, and protected their territory from unwelcome interlopers until their hatchlings were capable of flight. Once flight was achieved, the mated pair began to lose the strong mental connection. The connection weakened steadily as the young got closer to seeking their own territories.

No Dragon Slayer had ever broken the iron clad law to leave all brooding females and clutches alone, with the exception of Acnologia. Although he had beaten the fool's draconic form into a bloody mess several months before, Igneel had not killed the transformed dragon at the time of his victory. He had realized that the transformed Slayer was as much a victim of the Dragon Wars as Scissor Runner. He had seen too much of the crazed memories trapped in Acnologia's mind during their fierce aerial battle.

Out of control power created by the burning rage over feeling his own brooding human mate's death had driven Acnologia as insane as Scissor Runner was once temporarily driven. One of their number had first broken the unbreakable law to never attack a mated, brooding female. In retaliation Acnologia began to systematically hunt down brooding females and clutches. Unlike Scissor Runner, who was able to recover once the breeding cycle ended, it seemed as if Acnologia had never gained relief from the twisting emptiness and unbearable loss. It made Igneel wonder about the price all humans infused with dragon magic possibly paid without their dragon parents knowledge.

The biggest difference between humans who used dragon magic, and true dragons was the seeming inability of the humans to have different mates throughout their lives. True dragons sought mates roughly every two centuries. Once they raised their young, they parted ways. Some dragons even chose to mate with the same partner if they were unusually well matched in temperament. He had always gone to Grandeney's territory when it was time to answer the mating call because she was best able to deal with his temper. They had produced two clutches and raised them together in true harmony.

Unlike himself, Natsu probably only had enough time to accept one female before his life ended, unless he drew out too much power and transformed into a true dragon. Then again, humans also had a strange habit of going into heat every time their young got old enough to begin eating solid foods, or close to that point. Such ongoing breeding opened another possibility for why a single breeding cycle existed for the human slayers.

Could the reason for a single life span mating cycle among human Dragon Slayers be due to the human tendency toward ongoing breeding before their young had the opportunity to become independent? Constant heat due to the lack of numbers for each hatching could explain everything about why the protective mental link did not disappear once a mate was chosen. If the Slayer was always locked into an ongoing cycle of raising various aged young, they never had the chance for their magic to erode the protection mechanism dragon magic created within them. The infused dragon power had never unlocked the human mind melding with a mate as far as any dragon had witnessed.

However, if Acnologia was actually normal for all human Slayers, albeit transformed, Natsu would always remain locked into the single mating cycle, even if his human mate died before bearing any young. In such a case, avoiding a human mate was the only way for Natsu to protect himself from experiencing an unspeakable nightmare of a lifelong locked mating cycle without relief.

Worst of all, the dragon power did not seem to let go until death claimed the Slayer, no matter their physical form if Acnologia was a normal Slayer. If everything Igneel feared was true of all humans with dragon power, then Acnologia's suffering would only end with his death. Still, Igneel felt he needed to keep the transformed Slayer alive in order to discover the real truth of the matter. If, in fact, it took the full span of the short human life to complete a single cycle of mated pairs, all their adopted humans could very well suffer the same grim fate as Acnologia. Igneel believed he owed it to all the humans who had been raised by himself and fellow dragons to unravel the mystery.

Humans lived slightly longer than a century. Yet, Acnologia was almost four hundred years old, and had once been human. If Zeref's corrupting power was removed from his body, would the long dormant link finally break, bringing the transformed dragon relief, and true sanity? Igneel felt that it was a worthy experiment to pursue if only for the other human Slayers' long term welfare. However, finding the spell needed had been a problem he and Grandeeney had yet to overcome.

Now, Igneel had to consider the potential problem of human mages creating artificial dragon slayers. With the new information, Igneel could not help but wonder how such humans were affected by dragon gem implants. Would they also be subject to the same problems of the mild mind meld to a single mate for their short lives? Or did the gems somehow lessen the mind meld that natural dragon energy created between mates? In the case of Skiadrum's adopted son, did his implanted dragon gem break the Slayer out of a single lifelong mating cycle, or make the single cycle more pronounced? It would be worth asking the humans who Natsu valued most to look into the matter for dragon kind he decided.

Tossing aside the last of the bones he had gnawed clean, Igneel dropped his head between his forelegs and closed his eyes. It was time to sleep and regain his full strength for the long flight ahead of him.

~~00O00~~


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 2

Bedlam descended upon Magnolia during the midday shopping period. Metalicana's massive shadow raced across the streets, and slithered up buildings as he glided past. The sudden appearance of his shadow lifted every human eye toward the sky. Screams rent the air as people identified that he was spiraling in lazy circles above their heads. Street vendors and customers alike fled from all open spaces in a blind panic.

Metalicana found the howls of terror, and panicked scurrying of the ant sized humans below amusing as he tried to determine his adopted son's location based upon the wispy threads of scent reaching his keen nose. So far he was having difficulty sorting through the sheer number of smells warring for his attention. Humans really did like to stink up their environment the dragon decided. Metalicana snorted over a particularly unpleasant whiff of garbage that his nose had the misfortune of finding.

The metal dragon rumbled deep in his chest, thinking about his mission. _'Why did Gajeel decide to live among so many people? Things would be so much easier if my fledgling had sense enough to live in the wilds where he could be easily found.'_

The need to get higher so he could do another glide across the next section of the city forced Metalicana to beat his wings in rapid succession. Debris swirled, somewhat obscuring his bird's eye view of the streets below as he climbed higher.

The dragon's one wing caught a small warm updraft. It was nowhere near the strength needed to ease the strain upon overextended wings, but Metalicana could still use it to his advantage. The metal dragon snarled, mind spewing a vow that nothing would ever again convince him to fly three days straight, including the world coming to a grisly demise, as vicious pain shot down the length of his left midline wing bones. He had to land, or risk crushing buildings, and breaking his wings and limbs, due to increasing muscle spasms. Seeing a small clearing, Metalicana swooped in for a landing. He tucked his wings to drop fast toward the grass below, only shifting the tilt of his wings open enough to hard land, rearing back on his hind quarters with front legs thrust outward to slide to an abrupt halt. He snapped his wings closed as Metalicana's head turned to survey the scene before him.

Shrieks and pounding feet grew in volume as small humans scattered at top speed. The chaos entertained Metalicana as his amused gaze swept in all directions. The dragon noted a haphazard array of odd human creations dumped on the grass during the mass exodus. Most of the humans in the small clearing seemed to be children unless he had forgotten the general size of the creatures. It was disappointing that Gajeel had been unable to teach these silly humans that not all dragons were their enemies. It was yet another thing he would have to talk to his adopted fledgling about when he managed to find him.

Stretching his neck, the old dragon tried to filter Gajeel's scent from the fear tainted majority filling his nose. He finally caught a recognizable trace flowing on a slight north-westerly breeze. Ducking under a pair of overhanging tree branches that obscured his path, the large dragon strolled forward, keeping his nose busy tracking Gajeel. His head continued to twitch and turn as Metalicana caught every scent, moving forward with greater confidence despite his dislike of confining spaces presented by narrow human streets. He was closing on Gajeel according to his nose. The scent was stronger with each short tease of that specific faint breeze. A surge of pleasure flowed through Metalicana's system at the prospect of seeing how much his human fledgling had grown.

It had been years since Metalicana was coerced into making that stupid agreement to leave all humans alone. All pro human dragons had agreed that it was necessary to prevent a second dragon war. All of the trouble was caused by Weisslogia making his adopted fledgling assist in his suicide. Such a foolish action had forced Metalicana, Igneel, and Grandeeney to abandon their small human fledglings to the mercy of other humans without so much as a goodbye.

The anti human dragons had used Weisslogia's death as a basis to declare war on the humans, unless all dragons went into exile at the farthest reaches from human habitation. Along with the others, Metalicana had agreed, and left. The parting had happened long before Metalicana had become bored with his human fledgling's inexplicable antics. All dragons who had taken human children were forced into a corner to protect their adopted sons and daughters, so Metalicana was not alone in his simmering resentment. All of the drama and pressure had stemmed from a single, sick old fool's stupid decision to end his life by coercing his Slayer to do all the dirty work of killing him.

Metalicana snorted as he squeezed his broad chest into a narrower roadway trying to get to Gajeel. His scales were abrading both sides' buildings, and would most likely end in the buildings getting damaged. It would take a bit of maneuvering to get his haunches around the corner.

"Silly humans really need to spread out their buildings more," Metalicana grumbled.

The dragon's right eye picked up motion so he swung his head to settle on a small group of humans charging toward him. _'Guess I could ask for my fledgling to be brought to me before I get irreversibly stuck between these fragile human buildings. If I break their puny buildings, the humans will never stop shrieking. Much as I hate the idea of asking anything of a human, I don't have the time to waste on my normal way of dealing with things. We have to find the Star Singers and get them to safety.' _

He cocked his head as he studied the small group racing toward him. Dropping his nictitating membrane to see fully, Metalicana's nose told him beyond doubt that it was Gajeel and a pink haired, shorter male in the front. A rather large, pale haired male and a blue haired female were racing close behind them. A sibilant purr escaped the dragon's throat as his nose and eyes took in the much bigger version of his adopted fledgling.

Smirking in pleasure, Metalicana roared a greeting to his long missed fledgling. "About time you showed yourself! Why can't you live in a sensible place where I don't have to sort through countless reeking smells to track you down when needed?"

"Metalicana, what the fuck are you doing here? Don't you realize that you're scaring the shit out of this city's population?" Gajeel roared right back with his fist upraised as if he thought he was finally big enough to hit his father.

"Would you rather I left you to die instead of bringing you a much needed warning, fledgling?" He bellowed as his nose dropped close to the ground, fangs shining in a draconic grin.

Skidding to a stop, Gajeel stared at him with a frown. "What are you talking about, dad?"

"An ancient troublemaker is getting help from many dark human mages to escape his prison, fledgling. If the nightmare does get loose, there aren't enough of us to stop him from killing all life in this world the way he wishes."

The pink haired male scrubbed the back of his head as he blinked up at Metalicana with a huge grin on his face. His voice was fast, and driven as he began chattering. "So you're Metalicana, right? Awesome that I get to meet Gajeel's pops. Hey, have you seen Igneel recently? Is he okay? How about Wendy's dragon, Grandeeney? Oh, and why did you all vanish on the same day?"

With a heavy sigh, Gajeel drove his fist down into the hyper active male's skull to shut him up. "Not now, Ash Brains. We need to get Metalicana out of here before the City Council demands that the king disband the Guild because of my stupid parent!"

The rather bulky blond man grabbed the shorter, pink maned male in a head lock and snarled his own reprimand. "It won't kill you to wait, Flame Brain. A dragon seems to be taking the time to warn us about something big, so you need to shut up and let him get on with it. Got it?"

"Where will you guys go? I'll go tell Master that we have an important visitor whom he needs to meet." The small blue haired female grabbed Gajeel's sleeve as she spoke.

Comprehension flashed in Metalicana's head and a sparkle glinted in his eyes. "Well, you must be Grandeeney's fledgling. Wendy isn't it?" The dragon asked with a soft wheeze of humor.

The small female grinned with a snappy nod of her head. "Hello, Metalicana-sama. Is Grandeeney well?"

A rumble rose up from his chest. "Both Igneel and Grandeeney are well despite being furious with the anti human dragon faction. They both send their regards and love. However, it is not time for discussing family. Dangerous things are happening, and I must insure all Dragon Slayers and your allies are prepared for their quests."

"Quests?" The pink haired fledgling's eyes lit with inner fire as he repeated the single word.

"Not now, Idiot! We gotta get Metalicana out of town before things get out of control! Can you back out to end of this street and back into the park, Dad?"

"My home is in a clearing not far from the park so we can meet with Gramps there." Igneel's fledgling bellowed as he pumped his arm in the air. "Until Gramps arrives, you can explain why all of our parents vanished."

"Forget it! After we know what this warning is about, you can all get the details about your adopted father. It would be damned rude to make Gajeel's dragon keep repeating himself. I'm sure Wendy would appreciate hearing about what happened to her dragon also, or have you already forgotten about her, moron?" The scar faced, bulkier man barked.

Wendy blinked a few times as the smaller Natsu began throwing his fists at the much larger man who was denying him his way. The petite girl child shrugged and headed at a flat run in the direction from which they had come. Watching as the two males fought right under his nose, Metalicana could not help but give Gajeel a Draconic grin as his son shook his head at the antics of his friends.

"Never mind Natsu, Dad. He only has eating, sleeping, and fighting contained in that piss poor excuse of a brain most of the time. He gives all new meaning to the word dense some days."

"Hey, metal head, take that back!" Igneel's feisty fledgling shouted as he ducked under the larger man's arm and shot fire magic at Gajeel. In a matter of moments the trio were in an all out brawl. The three males slammed into a wall. The structure began to concave under their combined weight and power which would no doubt be blamed on himself the old dragon realized. Flinging the other two off of his body, the bulkier male began crackling with lightning. Entertaining as he found the situation, Metalicana knew that the hot heads needed to be stopped immediately. He slammed one forefoot over the pair who were reeling toward the middle of the street. His other forefoot caged the electricity clad male and pushed him flat a few steps from the damaged building.

"I was under the impression that I'm supposed to be escorted from the area before the other humans panic. So, show me the way back out of this narrow and confining place. You can all play to your hearts' content after getting me free of these constricting buildings!" Metalicana snarled at the trio of squirming males.

Once the pair of dragon raised males settled down, Metalicana removed his heavy clawed foot to let them stand. The lone male beneath his other claws extended paw continued to fight against his metal scales which did nothing more than annoy Metalicana. He could not recall any of the four living lightning dragons having trained a human Slayer, so it was possible that this one was one of the artificial ones which had been mentioned during the dragon conference.

Gajeel walked over to the struggling male's position, leaned over to look between his finger joints while barking in a harsh tone, "Knock it off, Laxus. Metalicana won't let you up until you stop fighting even if you manage to do damage. Far as my Dad's concerned, we're all acting like fresh hatchlings so he's dealing with us the same as he would any other newborn brat. Pin us until we're worn out enough to behave like reasonable children is how any prime aged dragon would respond to our brawling right now."

A muffled torrent of human curses drifted up from beneath his forefoot. At least the biggest male was no longer trying to shock him, nor pounding on his palm. Satisfied that the third fledgling had learned his lesson, Metalicana lifted his front talons and allowed the last one to stand. Struggling for several moments, the dragon managed to straighten his legs to attain his full height in spite of the abraded spots on both his shoulders. He turned his snout in his adopted son's direction. "So lead me out of this blasted narrow place already."

"Fine, Dad. Yeesh, you're always so damned impatient. I'll have to be your eyes as we back you out of this street I suppose." His fledgling quickly slipped beneath his chest, and trotted beneath his stomach to slide out from underneath his body.

Metalicana felt his fledgling grab onto his tail and start tugging. With a growl, and a snort, he jerked his massive body backward with a loud scraping noise coming from the buildings. He took in a deep breath once free of the previously constricting space. Irritated by the fact his tail was being tugged, Metalicana flicked the appendage up and twisted his head back to glare at his fledgling who should have known better. "Is there are reason you think you can yank on my tail?"

"I'm just trying to guide you, damn it! It isn't like you can see the ground clearly to back up safely any other way."

His fledgling actually made a reasonable point. Metalicana could not see the debris on the ground behind himself in such close confines. Nor had Metalicana gotten a chance to teach Gajeel dragon vision merge before getting forced to abandon his very young Slayer. "Agreed. However, there is a more dignified way to go about this, fledgling!"

"Oh, and how do you figure that, Dad?" Gajeel asked as he dropped onto his back, and trotted along his spine to face him.

"Dragon vision merge comes to mind. It's easy enough to use, and effectively gives us both extra eyes to see from all angles."

Before Gajeel could respond, Igneel's fledgling was laughing as he landed beside Gajeel. "I know how to do that. It was one of the first spells Igneel taught me. I'll be happy to be your extra eyes, Uncle."

The pink haired Slayer's palm landed between Metalicana's eyes, a familiar warm tingle asking for permission to enter his thoughts. Curiosity got the better of him so Metalicana opened his mind. Immediately he saw his own eyes from the boy's perspective. He wheezed a draconic chuckle as the grinning fledgling's emotions washed through him. Igneel's Slayer absolutely adored all dragons. The second thing that flashed into his awareness was how powerful this youngster's instincts were overall. In a flash the young Slayer was behind him showing him the way as Gajeel frowned in obvious irritation.

"Don't be so glum, fledgling. I'll teach you as soon as we are out of this city. I always intended to teach you the spell, but never had a chance to do so. It can be disorienting if you've never shared sight before, so this works to everyone's benefit."

A sharp nod was his son's only response as Gajeel followed his human friend onto the ground. It took several minutes, and Gajeel arguing with what Natsu's mind identified as Rune Knights to get Metalicana liberated from the constricting street. Whirling once his shoulders were free, Metalicana shook off the mild cramping that had started to build in his hind quarters. He had maintained his determination not to destroy buildings since he did need to remain on good terms with the humans for the moment. It had been a while since he had pushed his patience quite so far, but considering the Slayers had gotten the Rune Knights calmed down, Metalicana supposed it was worth the sting to his pride.

"Shall I presume that a representative from you knights will also be involved with hearing the news I have brought to your kind?" Metalicana demanded as he stood in the small clearing he had landed in earlier.

One of the darker haired men stepped forward and gave him a sketchy bow. "I will be honored to listen to your news, Mighty Metalicana. My name is Dorenbolt, and I am an officer of the Rune Knights who answers to His Majesty, Toma E. Fiore, our King."

"Excellent news. I believe his bloodline is one of the remaining Star Singer Lineages that are in grave danger. The Abyss Lord's little puppet seems to have a lot of control over all the dark magic using wretches that have been spawned in recent centuries." Metalicana spoke as he began to head through the park at a leisurely pace. "Hurry up, Fledglings. I have no idea where I'm supposed to meet your guild master."

"My place is this way, Uncle." Igneel's boy hopped from foot to foot in front of his snout with a huge display of tiny teeth. The boy's emotions and instincts were fused into a bundle of genuine love and happiness much to the Metal dragon's surprise. Atlas Flame had mentioned being given the honorific of uncle, and it seemed the impertinent child assumed he could adopt all dragons without considering their power types. Igneel needed to be warned that his fledgling had no concept of consequences. So far this group of humans, which his fledgling had found, were proving quite capable of amusing him if nothing else.

"I'm not a fire dragon, Fledgling. Atlas Flame is an acceptable uncle to you, but I am not. It was expedient to share vision to get me out of that blasted confining city, but that is no longer needed either." Metalicana grumbled, breaking the vision merge as he followed the carefree bundle of roiling instinct.

Natsu laughed as his hands laced behind his head, continuing toward the tree line. "Glad I could help you get unstuck. I still think it's okay to call you Uncle because Gajeel is part of my Fairy Tail family. You're his dad, so that makes you my uncle too."

Gajeel snorted and released a short growl of irritation. "Like I said before, Flame Brain is an idiot, Dad. I'll kick his ass later so you don't have to waste time on him. I just need to wait until Dorenbolt's gone. I've gotta protect Fairy Tail so I can keep eating."

Gajeel's sour expression coupled with the strange conversation added to Metalicana's amusement. "Is this Fairy Tail something other than a Magic Guild?"

The biggest of the trio of Slayers responded from his other side. "My grandfather is the current Guild Master. His name is Makarov Dreyer. He always says that he considers every member of our guild to be his children. He kind of insists that we all treat each other as siblings. Dumb ass takes my grandfather's words at face value, so can be really obnoxious, Metalicana-sama."

Igneel's fledgling had felt anything but human to the metal dragon when they shared the vision merge. Pondering the oddity he had felt, he also weighed the increasing information abouot Igneel's fledgling which the artificial Slayer divulged. Combined with things he gleaned during their short vision merge, Metalicana was getting a mental image of the pink haired Dragon Slayer. Metalicana had sensed how hard Igneel's fledgling was fighting to keep his instincts in check.

The Fire dragon fledgling's iron will was strained almost to the limit of his thinking processes, or so it had felt to Metalicana. The things said by the other two Slayers added to the impression that Igneel's youngster was fighting an exhausting mental battle that should not be happening. Why was Igneel's fledgling so focused on curbing the one thing that set Dragon Slayers apart from all other humans, and gave them great power? Why was young Natsu strangling his unusually sharp instincts so hard? Was he avoiding the use of the element within his being that increased his dragon power to curb a physical transformation already? His energy did not strike Metalicana as being vast enough to pose any such threat. Still, the pink haired human did seem to be overflowing normal energy, and was completely incapable of staying motionless. Perhaps he thought curbing his instincts would lower the amount of regular energy his system naturally produced?

The dragon glanced a small house with a tree growing out of the near facing corner of the structure between other trees. Although Metalicana was no expert on human dwellings, this one appeared to be on the verge of collapse where the tree's branches broke through the side and roof.

As the pink haired fledgling whirled to stand in front of the rickety structure, his teeth were again gleaming in a huge grin. Metalicana was startled as Gajeel suddenly grabbed the smaller Slayer's arm. "Flame brain, how's Bunny girl doing? Is she feeling any better yet? It's been a couple weeks since she caught that weird cold."

The grin was gone in an instant as the pink haired boy's face drained of color. "Shit, I got side tracked when you guys started screaming about a dragon attacking the city. I forgot that Luce told me to go get Wendy for her because she was having chest pains that were giving her trouble breathing."

"How the fuck can you forget to mention something that important, moron?" Gajeel screamed with genuine fury.

"Considering how much damage a dragon can do to a city, I thought making sure the one supposedly attacking Magnolia never got anywhere near Lucy's place! It was a little more important to keep her from getting crushed or burned to a cinder, Metal Headed Freak! Fuck! I still gotta grab Wendy and see if old lady Porlyusica has something to help Luce breathe easier."

Something Sertatsie had said during the dragon convention rose to the forefront of Metalicana's mind. "Would this ill friend happen to be what your kind call a Celestial Mage by any chance, Fledglings?"

"Huh? How did you know Bunny girl was a Celestial Mage, Dad?"

"Sertatsie's warning may have come too late. I'm going to link our minds, and you're going to get to your sick friend as fast as you can. If she's glowing and phantom chains are coming out of her torso, we have less than fifteen minutes to throw her into full stasis." Metalicana's tone brooked no arguments.

Head dropping so that his eyes were level with Gajeel's, Metalicana thrust his powerful thoughts into Gajeel's mind, aligning their thoughts and magic. "Don't fight me or my power if I have to use your body to gain enough time to get the female's core stabilized! You have to trust me without fail, and let me do what has to be done if she's glowing or you see the chains. Run like you've never run before or we may all die if this is one of the two mages that hold the keys to keeping the Abyss Lord imprisoned! Do you understand me?"

Gajeel's eyes widened dramatically as Metalicana allowed the truth to flow into his son's mind. "Got it, Dad."

"Move it!" Gulping hard, his son whirled and hotfooted his way toward the city, the pink haired Flame Dragon Mage racing hard on his heels.

"What exactly is going on?" The blond Slayer demanded with hands on his hips as he faced Metalicana with an angry glare.

"I'd love to know also, Dragon." The man who called himself Dorenbolt added, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're Guild master will be here soon. I will explain everything once I am certain that this sick female Gajeel mentioned is not the same Star Singer Sertatsie sensed was dying because the power needed to stabilize the astral prison is too great for her body to produce. The Star Singers must not come to any harm. Now be silent so I can contact Sertatsie since she's the only one who knows how to save the Star Singer's life if this is the one our eldest Queen sensed has begun to fade, Humans." With those words, Metalicana created a thought orb and hurled it in the direction of the Ancient Dragon while maintaining his connection with his Slayer who was speeding down the still empty streets of Magnolia.

~~00O00~~


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay I think this will be enough chapters for readers to decide whether or not I should continue branching into this Adventure/Fantasy/Supernatural realm of genres, or should stick to my normal fan fiction genres. I'll continue this story if people think I'm writing a believable and decent story. I hope this is enjoyable since this is my first Fantasy Adventure. I realize I may be writing a complete flop by the genre standards. Please let me know if this is an okay story or not. I don't mind hard reviews.

CHAPTER 3.

Gajeel was having trouble accepting the information flowing through his brain from his dragon father as he charged at maximum speed toward Lucy's apartment. He had only been there a couple of times with Levi. At least Natsu was running beside him to lead the way if he made a wrong turn. A glance at his fellow slayer's clenched jaw and burning eyes told Gajeel that the younger man could not completely ignore his heart's choice where Fairy Tail's blond haired darling was concerned. Best friend was Natsu's favorite lie to Gajeel's thinking. All Dragon Slayers knew who their best potential mates were on an instinctual level. Natsu seemed too intent upon ignoring the powerful tug that all of them saw happening to him for some very odd reason. Gajeel doubted Natsu was as stupid as he pretended to be.

Lucy somehow drew Natsu, and the rest of them, like moths were drawn to flames. If he was completely honest with himself, Gajeel knew he hated feeling the constant pull towards the Blond Celestial Mage. He had also become very fond of Levi, Lucy's best friend who was equally compatible to him, if not to the others. Levy at least was easy on his nerves, unlike the constant, low-grade thrumming of an undefined force that emanated from Lucy.

Catching Laxus watching Lucy on several occasions implied that the second generation Slayers also found Lucy Heartfilia's pull hard to resist. For some inexplicable reason, it appeared that Celestial Mages, or at least their powers, held some kind of magnetism toward which all dragon magic was drawn. Nothing else made sense to Gajeel. He felt the flickers of real interest coming from Metalicana's mind in response to his jumbled thoughts.

Mind wrestling with conflicting thoughts, Gajeel almost careened into Natsu. The smaller man grabbed his forearm, leaping across Gajeel's trajectory and jerking him toward one of the buildings. He had come close to running past his adopted sister's home because of being distracted by his father's nightmarish information, and his attempt to deflect the onset of shock through contemplating the odd link between Celestial Mages and Dragon Slayers.

Without stopping, Natsu busted through Lucy's front door and scurried toward her bed still dragging him along. With a snort, Gajeel jerked free of Natsu's grip and focused on the labored gasps coming from the open space just beyond the small kitchen nook beneath the closed window. The blocky archway leading into the second small room did not hide the single bed pushed against the wall.

Alert for the signs he was supposed to look for, Gajeel felt his heart drop into his toes. A visible, wavering glow surrounded Lucy like a corona surrounding the sun. He did not see anything that looked like chains, but from the surge of concern coming from Metalicana's mind, Gajeel knew that things were going to get much worse.

"Shit, we're in trouble. Metalicana was talking about this right before we came to get Bunny girl. Don't know what dad can do to save her, but we gotta let him try before moving her anywhere, Flame Brain."

Pushing past Natsu, Gajeel gave over full control of his body to Metalicana. His mind was shoved into a tight corner as his body began moving without his command. Power flowed through his mind and body as his hands settled on the sick girl's stomach. An unfamiliar magic circle began to pulse from his finger tips as Metalicana's power and voice flashed through Gajeel's veins. The language was unknown to Gajeel as it flowed off his tongue, but he trusted his adopted father to do right by Lucy. He also sensed Metalicana's belief that she was a strong mate for any dragon's adopted son if they matched in power frequencies.

Gajeel's thoughts centered on how Lucy Heartfilia was dearly loved by everyone within the guild because of her kind hearted ways. He did not care whether or not Lucy was magically strong enough to get the approval of his dragon parent. All Gajeel cared about was how the girl who was dying in front of him had forgiven him for all his violence when they first met. Lucy's capacity to forgive, forget, and offer friendship terms was extraordinary. Lucy had a big heart, and was generous with everyone. She was only feisty when she needed to be. The young woman struggling to breathe brought real joy to everyone around her. Lucy could not die, or Fairy Tail would lose one of the brightest lights it ever had gained.

Gajeel had seen Lucy getting attacked constantly during her time with Fairy Tail. Even he had attacked her on his last Guild Master's orders when he was with Phantom Lord. Now Gajeel had a better understanding of why dark guilds were so determined to hurt Lucy all the time. Somehow, Lucy was one of the most important mages in all Fiore, but only the dark guilds had embraced that fact. Even among Fairy Tail members, some grumbled that Lucy was too weak to be on their guild's strongest team of fighters. Some members whispered that Lucy needed to do easier jobs so she would be safe. It was common knowledge that most of Fairy Tail's male members wanted Lucy to focus on doing pin ups for the Sorcerer Magazine as some of the staff did try to seek her out for such work.

A few times, Laxus's teammates had gone so far as to relegate her to her own team's cheering section. Yet the knowledge Gajeel was learning, as his father sealed Lucy into some kind of power pod, was pointing to the exact opposite being the case. From all Gajeel was learning, Lucy was barely able to tap her true power because of being born trapped by ancient magic that kept something very dangerous sealed away through using her life force as the power source for the seal. Her bloodline was cursed to maintain a very powerful magical barrier which could only be broken by her death. Lucy's magical power and, more to the point, actual blood was very valuable as a means to unlock dangerous gates into another dimension.

Everything Gajeel had witnessed since he joined Fairy Tail was falling into perfect order now that he was privy to his dad's knowledge. Intense horror began rising up from Gajeel's depths over how many careless risks had been taken with Lucy's life to date. Any one of Lucy's near death experiences could have ended with a horrific war that Gajeel could scarce comprehend if Metalicana's thoughts shared were accurate.

Blinking as his adopted father released his body back to his control, Gajeel heaved a shaky breath as he turned to look at Natsu. "I picked up part of what Metalicana came here to tell us while we were running over here to save Bunny girl, Natsu. It's really bad, but I also explains everything that's been happening to her since we returned to Tenru."

"Nothing's worse than Lucy suffering like she has been for a couple weeks now." The younger man snarled as a small flame slithered past his lips.

"Let's get her back to Metalicana so he can get her healthy again. It seems my father knows why Bunny Girl's been getting targeted by dark guilds. I saw part of it, and you're going to have a melt down once you hear what he has to say." Gajeel spoke as he quickly rolled Lucy onto her side and tucked her comforter around her upper body.

Brows furrowed, Natsu shoved him aside, completing the act of bundling Lucy up and lifting her bridal style against his chest. Without a word the pink haired Slayer headed for the front door. Gajeel took a moment to fix the metal in her door jambs so the door would close correctly, and followed Natsu. It took only a moment to undo the damage from their hasty entrance, and it bought Gajeel time to collect himself.

"What does your father know that we don't?" Natsu growled as they hurried down the sparsely populated streets.

"Bunny Girl isn't a normal Celestial mage. From what I caught from Metalicana's thoughts, she's part of an ancient bloodline called a Star Singer. The Dark Guilds are sworn to kill her no matter the cost to themselves."

"Why would they want to kill Luce so bad?" Natsu shot a venomous glare his way.

"Why does any Dark guild ever do any of the stupid shit they do? Because if they can kill the last few Star Singers, they believe they'll gain control over a super powerful magic beast for their own gain, dip shit! From what I was able to dig out of Metalicana's mind, Lucy's ancestors cursed their bloodline to power some kind of seal that keeps some kind of evil locked outside of our normal world. Seems it has something to do with her spirits also, but I'm not sure what the connection is because I can't dig that deep into my dad's mind."

"I won't let anyone hurt my best friend ever again!" Natsu hissed as he sped up to get to Metalicana faster.

"Correction . . . WE . . . won't let the dark guilds hurt her. Bunny Girl's like my little sister. Just don't ever tell her I said that or I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!"

Natsu nodded, glancing down at his precious burden. "So how long until this spell wears off?"

"Don't know, and I don't intend to waste enough time to find out. Let's pick up the pace and get back to Metalicana before that can happen. Hopefully he'll be able to save Bunny once we get back to your place."

"Let's hope so. I just want Luce back to normal. I miss her kicking me out of her bed to be honest. Wonder why Wendy hasn't been able to get her well, but your dad might be able to do it?"

"Wendy can only heal normal injuries and illnesses, Dumb Ass. Bunny isn't sick like normal, Flametard. She's got a rare magical drain illness. Because of all the crap dark guilds have done to her, she's gone far beyond her limits so is losing her power, and her life. I'm pretty sure her current problem started with that screwy Infinity Clock that she got trapped inside of a while back."

"We should find the pieces and make sure to pulverize that stupid clock then. If it's busted up enough, then it can't make Luce sick any more!"

Frowning, Gajeel stared straight ahead as he matched Natsu's pace. The overly simplistic way the Fire Dragon Slayer viewed life could be downright embarrassing. Everything that came out of the pink haired Slayer's mouth inevitably involved mass destruction as the solution to just about every problem. Although Gajeel did not mind breaking things, he realized that this was not a break random objects to save the girl variety crisis. Too bad Natsu would never understand the difference even if he tried to make the lug head pay attention long enough to absorb the gist of things.

Then again, Gajeel could not say that he was above falling into that trap on occasion. Destroying things was the fastest way to put an end to many problems. However, mass destruction was not the best way to stop the Dark Guilds from sinking their claws into Lucy yet again. They had to find a happy medium because of what Gajeel had gleaned from his father's mind. How one small little female's cursed family could cause so much trouble was almost beyond his ability to process. One thing was clear, Lucy Heartfilia was the victim of long term family troubles the likes of which none of them had ever dreamed.

They felt a cracking of massive power flowing and growing in the direction of Natsu's home. An alarmed look at each other had Gajeel taking a protective guard position near Natsu. "I'll cover you and Bunny Girl. Nothing's going to get to her with us around."

"Right. Maybe I should take her to the Guild Infirmary." Natsu responded as he spun to change direction.

Grabbing his fellow Slayer's shoulder, Gajeel shook his head once. "We should continue with Dad's plan. Let's just be cautious as we get near your place in case something has gone wrong. If needed, you can get Bunny Girl to the Guild while I block whatever is unleashing this much power. We should hurry though. Metalicana might need backup if this is because of the damned Rune Knights deciding no dragons are safe."

"They wouldn't!"

"The fuck they wouldn't, Ash breath! Every time the Magic Council gets destroyed, the Royal family picks an even worse group of intolerant asshole mages to take over. I don't even want to think about what the third council is going to be like once they all get appointed. Don't forget that our first Grand Magic Games ended with a dragon invasion and a half destroyed Capitol. If not for the King having mages enough to repair the damage, Fiore's finest mages, starting with us Dragon Slayers, would all be stuck on dragon extermination projects for the rest of our lives! We got lucky that you convinced that one fire dragon to side with humanity during the fight, or we'd all be screwed right now!" Gajeel barked.

Natsu snorted but said nothing more as he jogged through the public park and headed into the trees leading out of town. They dodged between tree branches, sticking to wider areas, heading toward the small clearing where Metalicana and the others were waiting. A much stronger tingle raced across Gajeel's skin, and told him even before they got to Natsu's ramshackle home that the new power surge was coming from his father. A scowl graced Gajeel's features as he squashed the desire to hotfoot it to his father's side. His strong emotional response to the power sensed actually startled Gajeel. It was not as if his adopted father was all that loving toward him as he grew up. If anything, Metalicana had been a somewhat cold parent. Gajeel realized he would probably fail at protecting his father if things were sliding downhill with the Rune Knights in any case. He had realized how weak he was compared to real dragons during the Eclipse gate disaster, and had yet to feel he had gotten strong enough to handle a real dragon's power so far.

Gajeel grabbed Natsu's shoulder and skidded them both to a walk right before the trees gave way to Natsu's property. A quick scrutiny of the area showed him that Metalicana was staring at a ring of energy which was rotating a bit above the ground at the other side of the small clearing. Master Makarov and other guild members were standing beside Natsu's home as they also watched what was happening. Their collective tension was thick enough to shatter into lethal shrapnel if anything disturbed the area.

Unsure how to respond, Gajeel tried to reach his father's mind. He must have succeeded despite being tired because Metalicana swung his massive head toward him and snorted before speaking. "It's Sertatsie's magic, so get over here. She's got her ally warping space so she can get here to take care of your little friend faster."

With a nod, he and Natsu entered the clearing and trotted to stand between Metalicana's forelegs. The circle elongated into several circles that flowed and whirled in different directions to create a sphere of light that took up much of the clearing. The power was insane as it sparked and careened to create a portal. Small static bursts like tiny lightning bolts expanding from the core of the magic ball flared once more with a sudden splintering of rainbow hues before winking out of existence.

Gajeel blinked to clear the spots from his vision. Before them was a decrepit looking dragon who appeared to be fresh from a vicious fight. The damage to what must have once been a glorious white hide made Gajeel nauseous. Little remained of once broad wings. The destruction was so bad that the poor dragon could not fold the remains of tattered sails against it's sides. A face that had been savaged, jaw not only broken, but partially ripped off gave testament to a battle so fierce Gajeel could not imagine it if he tried. Deep gouges and scabbed over flesh not quite able to meet and knit properly covered the dragon's body. Oddly enough, the dragon's misshapen body was supported on some kind of sled Gajeel noticed when he looked down at the part where strong front clawed forefeet should have been. Part of a single fore foot with two wicked claws were all that remained.

"How the Fuck can a nearly dead dragon heal Bunny Girl, Oyaji? Look at how badly injured that newcomer is, and explain where you got such a crazy idea! It hasn't had enough time to even heal itself!" Gajeel glared up at his father while he railed at him.

"Sertatsie is the original Creation Dragon, fledgling. She is our most revered Ancient Queen, not an It. Speak with respect or keep your mouth shut!" Metalicana hissed in a deadly tone.

Stepping back as his Father's snout with bared teeth came perilously close to his head, Gajeel continued to glare at his adopted parent. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful. All I know is that your Ancient Queen is so badly beat up that she can't possibly have enough power to save Lucy, and herself, right now."

A strangled purr coming from the new dragon's direction caught everyone's attention. Three people were sitting on the sled and laughing much to Gajeel's dismay. Where had the trio come from? What was so funny about this situation?

As if the other dragon had heard his thoughts, a small orb flowed out of the new dragon's head and floated closer to them all. "Little one, these injuries are not life threatening any longer. The Fairies helped remove the worst of the Abyss Lord's venom for me. The wounds will never heal completely because of the nature of the Abyss Lord's venom. I can do much to insure the Abyss Lord fails to escape his prison although my body looks so badly broken."

Seeing the reactions of his guild mates as they began to mutter among their ranks, Gajeel could not help sounding sarcastic. "Wait a minute. How can you help Bunny girl, if you can't heal yourself? Isn't her problem part of the same deal? Metalicana seems to think her being sick is related to this Abyss Lord looking to kill her off to get rid of the blood seal that's keeping him trapped."

"Indeed your friend's illness is related to the emergency that awoke us ancient warriors from our time suspended sleep. Her existence insures one of the seals that keeps the Abyss Lord imprisoned will not break unless her blood coats her specific ancestral binding stone. This little Celestial Mage is one of the cursed Star Singer lineages who willingly sacrificed their lives and all their generations for eternity to ensure the ancient destroyer remains bound and locked in a prison of light and life itself. Her life force, and the bulk of her magic power constantly sustains one of the astral chains which keeps the Abyss Lord trapped between dimensions where it can do no harm."

Makarov stomped toward the newcomers looking like he was ready to do damage of his own. "What is the meaning of this tale you're telling? Are you saying that Lucy's life is in danger because of some ancient magic none of us have ever heard of before now? How can we believe you when none of us have ever heard of any such legend before?"

"The young woman's ancestors helped to seal the Abyss Lord in a pocket dimension that we ancients created. It is no common curse that your Star Singer bears, Little Elder." One of the three people with the wounded dragon walked closer. She was a very tiny and frail looking woman, with the strangest shaped eyes Gajeel had ever seen. "We have spent a long time in a deep stasis sleep, including Queen Sertatsie for the sole purpose of protecting the descendants of the Star Singers and magical tribes who threw away their humanity, and lives to seal that monster away long ago. To keep the immense destructive power sealed, we had no choice but to bind the prison to living beings so that the seals were fed power at all times."

"We help now?" The other two, roughly the size of pre teens asked in tandem. The other two rose in the air, a strange buzzing tone carrying to Gajeel's sensitive ears. The pair held hands and zipped closer, floating on either side of the taller woman.

"Soon, Zayden and Skuhldra. First we need to explain things well enough to the sacred descendent's friends. Otherwise, they will fear our intentions. The hard stasis Metalicana learned to wield for this emergency will protect her for a little while. Once we explain things, then we can determine the problem with her specific soul chain and astral lock so it can be repaired." The first woman answered. The pair dropped to the ground, stilling as they stared at each other. Almost transparent wings twitched upon both of their backs.

Gajeel's jaw loosened as he recognized that the two new comers had wings. "Am I losing my mind, or do those kids have wings?"

"When we awoke due to the spell breaking due to the emergency, we learned that pure blooded Fairies have been extinct for two thousand years. In all honesty, only thirty odd pairs survived the Abyss Lord's last attempt to destroy this world, so I can understand your shock at seeing genuine Fairies. To your kind, they are the stuff of pure legend now." The taller woman answered.

Makarov suddenly grinned like a fiend, or so Gajeel thought as the old man gave a shout of joy and began dancing around the winged pair. "I'll be damned, they don't have tails after all! Master Mavis will be so sorry she missed this!"

Again two voices were woven together, "Only the beast clan shifters have tails. We're from the cliff clans so no tails."

Without warning, Natsu unleashed a chest deep snarl. "Do you mind figuring out how to save Luce already? I don't like it that she isn't breathing!"

The torrent of noise that exploded from their guild mates had Gajeel's ears ringing in a matter of seconds. People were rushing forward, with Wendy in front as people tried to get close enough to check for themselves. One of the biggest surprises yet was that Laxus shoved the others aside and grabbed Lucy away from Natsu before he could react. "Why the fuck did you take so long to say something, you moron? Damn it! We've gotta get her breathing again before she dies!"

Before Laxus got more than a few steps away from Natsu, Metalicana was roaring loud enough to silence everyone. "Stop. The hard stasis spell is the reason she isn't breathing. Your Star Singer is trapped perfectly between time at this moment so she can't die. Hard stasis was designed to stop all functions without killing the person inside the sphere by removing all known laws of time. Sertatsie and these ancients were in an identical spheres for thousands of years and nothing harmed them. To them, it has only been a few months since they fought and sealed the Abyss Lord away."

Gajeel felt his shoulders release with a crackling shudder. He had not realized how tense he had become until it registered that he had not heard Lucy's breathing either. He had been too focused on getting her to Metalicana to notice what felt wrong from the moment he was released from his Father's control.

"Are you sure that Bunny Girl's going to be okay, Dad?"

"So long as the stasis is not disturbed, she will remain in perfect suspension. We will only remove it to determine the extent of her damage so we can heal her." The taller of the trio spoke again.

Gajeel noticed that Laxus refused to hand Lucy back to Natsu as he pivoted on his heels to face the Fairies and their human friend. If anything, Laxus was outright glaring intensely at the newcomers. Slight static crackled around Laxus which was all the proof Gajeel needed to recognize their Lightning Slayer was pissed off, and not going to calm down any time soon. Standing closer ot Metalicana, Gajeel figured he would let Natsu get fried if he was too obsessed with getting Lucy back to take notice of the rising warning signs.

"By the way, what is your name, My Dear? I'm Makarov Dreyer, Guild Master of the Magical Guild known as Fairy Tail." Makarov finally thought to show common courtesy to the trio.

Gajeel resisted the impulse to smack his own forehead over the look he got from his adopted Father. Obviously the constant breaches of expected etiquette had not been missed by the Iron Dragon. First their Guild Master forgets to exchange names. Then he makes a fool of himself by deciding to find out whether Fairies have tails instead of getting Bunny Girl much needed medical help. Now Makarov was swinging into miscreant mode, or Gajeel's ears had misheard the devious undertone in the old pervert's voice.

"I am Nadhasti, Fey Portal Master of the Bane Warriors. These are my soul bonds, Zayden, and Skuhldra of the Cliff Clan Fairies. They are remarkable healers even by their own race's standards."

"I see. Might I ask what a Soul Bond is?" Makarov was quick to ask.

Gajeel was startled when Metalicana responded. "Soul Bonding is an ancient magic that Fairies, or some of their hybrid children called Fey use. It prevents an obscenely powerful mage of any race that they are compatible with energy wise from losing control of their magical power and dying. Soul bonding allows Fairies or Fey to help regulate an out of control mage's power for their protection. Nadhasti's power tends to be one of the most dangerous forms to ever have existed since it tries to rip her body apart by creating portals to swallow pieces of her body."

Sertatsie's thoughts filled the clearing. "Very well said, Metalicana. In fact, from what I have learned of your generation's history, Soul bonds could have prevented the Human Slayer from transforming into an insane dragon. The power would not have spiked so radically to shift his form if the unfortunate human had access to the soul bond's magical regulation elements. Since it prevents such power spikes from doing harm, it is a very useful magic."

Gajeel felt something was off with this conversation, but could not exactly place why he felt uneasy about what the dragons were discussing. Laxus was now glaring at Natsu and unleashing a quiet growl that raised Gajeel's hackles over his ongoing attempts to take Lucy's unconscious body back.

"Just give Luce back to me then, Lightning Rod!" Natsu snarled in a much louder voice as he returned the glare.

Gajeel did smack his forehead over the Alpha class stupidity happening in front of him. Aware that this was the worst time for Natsu and Laxus to get into an Alpha fight, Gajeel stomped closer and grabbed Natsu's arm to jerk him backwards while softly snarling. "Not now, Ash breath! You could kill Bunny Girl if you and Laxus get into an Alpha contest right now. She's safe and that's all that matters right now. Now that Laxus has her, we can protect her easier."

After a few seconds, Natsu's expression cleared and he went from angry to smirking. "Good point. Okay, I'll let him hang onto Luce so long as he's careful with her."

Several sparks flew from Laxus's shoulders over Natsu's ill tempered comment. The blond haired Slayer snarled, "After Blondie's taken care of, I'm going to enjoy pulverizing you, Idiot!"

"Once I know Luce is going to be okay, I'll be happy to fight you, Lightning Rod."

Without warning a golden light exploded near Laxus. Gajeel and Natsu both leapt between Laxus and the sphere that coalesced into Loke. The Celestial Spirit looked tired and was obviously very angry. "We all stopped sensing Lucy so I came to check on her! Why is she glowing like that?"

"We're trying to figure that out ourselves, Loki, so calm down. This dragon put her in some kind of time stopping magic to keep her alive so we can figure out how to help her." Laxus tipped his head toward Metalicana as he answered the rapid fire questions Loki hurled at them all.

"Well isn't this an unexpected pleasure. It's been how many millennia since we last spoke, Reagaltiel? Or must I call you Leo now that you're a Star Guardian Spirit?" Loke whirled to stare at the ancients standing near the center of the clearing, and his jaw dropped.  
>~~oo0oo~~ "Well isn't this an unexpected pleasure. It's been how many millennia since we last spoke, Reagaltiel? Or must I call you Leo now that you're a Star Guardian Spirit?" Loke whirled to stare at the ancients standing near the center of the clearing, and his jaw dropped.<br>~~oo0oo~~


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Please forgive my penchant for typing "Loki" instead of "Loke." My love of Viking Mythology leads to auto typing the Viking God's name when I am pounding out a chapter. I did read this over and corrected several such typos, but am not always 100% perfect at seeing every single Loki versus Loke. Hope everyone enjoys this new chapter.

CHAPTER 4

"Well isn't this an unexpected pleasure. It's been how many millennia since we last spoke, Reagaltiel? Or must I call you Leo now that you're a Star Guardian Spirit?" Loke whirled to stare at whomever had spoken. His jaw dropped as an impossible vision hit his retinas. Near the center of the small clearing, a person he had seen in his nightmares for thousands of years stood with a crooked grin on her face. Loke rubbed his eyes thinking he was either being tricked by malicious magic, or was hallucinating because of exhaustion. Keeping Lucy stable by feeding her extra power was enough to exhaust the strongest Celestial Spirit.

Looking again, Loke recalled the female's name was Nadhasti. The nightmare reminded Loke that the Fey woman was supposed to be Vraylinish's right hand commander. Small and busty, the reddish gold, borderline matted hair contrasted with her fur pelt clothing. The feral looking female still stood in the same exact spot, flanked by two very familiar and detested Fairies. Loke continued to study her and noticed that her eyes were oddly shaped, not quite round, nor almond, with a hint of droopiness to her lids. Her eyes were very distinctive colors. One eye was an electric blue that leapt out to grab attention. The other was a fierce, glowing copper. Very high cheekbones were balanced by elongated ears that had no discernable lobes with rippled ridges which ended in sharp points.

Shaking his head to clear it of the image, Loke grumbled, "Am I fucking hallucinating?"

Nadhasti laughed. "We're very much alive and well, Reagaltiel. We survived thanks to your insane decision to kill yourself summoning the Star Phoenix. It destroyed your body, as well as fifteen other highest ranked Constellation priests that liked your idea. Then again, using that forbidden spell also saved a couple hundred lives and the last piece of the Tenru continent. The Sacred Saint always described you as being insanely smart like a half starved fox determined to eat. Even the Sheemastra Royal Clan survivors agree that you lived up to her evaluation quite spectacularly."

Looking at the rainbow prism hued white hide of Sertatsie made Loke's heart pound. He saw that portion of his nightmare as if it was still happening. Walking toward the ancient Queen's tortured body, Loke heard the buzz of conversations getting louder as he moved mechanically toward his goal. "How did you survive to be here, High Queen Sertatsie? I know you crashed into the ground during that outright slaughter. Watching you crash convinced Reagaltiel that there was no other option than to summon the Star Phoenix to gain the slimmest chance at sealing that demon away to save everyone."

"Vraylinish figured as much. She's still furious at you for acting so recklessly, Reagaltiel. None of us are looking forward to releasing her from time suspension because she does not calm down once she gets truly livid. Breaking a promise, even by accident is a dangerous activity for anyone, including yourself."

"Reagaltiel died at Tenru. Call me Loki or Leo since the Star Phoenix took what was left of the human mind you knew to create me, the Celestial Spirit locked into all the constellation's power. I'm actually one of the true chains imprisoning the Abyss Lord. The reason I remember parts of the battle from Reagaltiel's last hour of life is due to the fact that his was the driving emotional and thought force that created Leo's chain's strength. In fact I recall various human and non human lives from that specific day since their souls and powers merged together as they died fighting to save Earthland. Many dying thoughts and desires combined to create each of us Celestial Spirits. Even a few Fairies wound up contributing to the creation of us Celestial Spirits in the end. You could say we are the ultimate fusion of many diverse races determination to protect others. Each of the Celestial Spirits have distinctive traits that reflect whichever race was most closely aligned to them when the Constellation Priests succeeded in summoning the Star Phoenix. Although I might look like the Constellation Priest Reagaltiel since he ultimately became the Leo constellation's foundation sentience."

Twin voices spoke as one. "Most unfortunate news. Vraylinish will be most displeased that you have forgotten your pair bonding vows."

"Shut up, Fairies! I wasn't talking to you. Just because Nadhasti is your slave doesn't mean that I'm going to let you get away with any of your kind's sadistic crap now that you're back!" Loke snarled as he whirled to face the small immortals.

Like Nadhasti, the pair had the same sharply rippled and pointed, lobe less ears, and odd shaped eyes. Their foreheads were even larger than their half human slave's alien features. Both wore large wolf pelts with the legs intact as ties. An androgynous pair of roughly thirteen year old bodies with almost transparent bat like wings with prominent sail claws clasped at their throats completed their eerie appearance.

"Seems you recall a fair amount of things if you're already threatening my Soul Bonds, Loke." Nadhasti said as she stepped between him and her Fairy masters.

"A lot of history about the period when I was created are recorded in the Celestial Library. I made it a point to relearn all the ancient magical races major traits, including all the shit that the Fairies caused when they last existed. In fact the amount of horrific trouble they caused in this world before the Abyss Lord's power insured their extinction fills several large tomes and takes up an impressive section of the Celestial Library."

Nadhasti laughed. "I can believe it. Still, my bond mates don't keep me unaware nor as a slave. All Fairies happen to be very polarized beings by nature. For each pair of twins born, one is light and the other dark. It isn't as if they choose to be that way, Reagaltiel. It is their nature by birth to embody the two extremes. It is the reason they must always be in contact with their polar opposite. It is their way of maintaining balance. Their access to the One Power comes from such complete fusions of the extreme opposites as I'm sure you know."

"Even so, their polarity problem allows the evil half of each pair to cause a lot of pain and sorrow since the light half lets their vicious partner get by with way too much nastiness. Looks like I'm going to have my hands full making them behave because they're not going to throw everyone into chaos. And my name is Loke. I've already told you that Reagaltiel died on Tenru." The Lion snarled.

Sertatsie intervened. "Loke is correct, Nadhasti. Reagaltiel's body was consumed in star fire and re-formed as one of the binding stone seals. The stone tied Reagaltiel's relatives and descendants' life force and powers to maintaining Leo's Seal. Same applies with the other fifteen High Priests and Priestesses that helped summon the Star Phoenix. Do not be deceived by shallow appearances."

Loke frowned as he raked a hand through his mane. "Wait! Reagaltiel had children? Shit, it's times like this when I really hate not knowing very much about the human's life before the final battle with the Abyss Lord. Now I'll go crazy with curiosity until His Majesty gives me access to the Royal Archive to get details about that priest!"

As the group of ancients stared at each other, Loke sighed in vexation. All Loke knew about having been created from a human was due to the recurring nightmares that haunted him. The Fey woman and her demonic masters were only familiar to Loke because the subtly shifting nightmares had shown these specific beings to him so often. Vraylinish was always with them in Loke's nightmares. She was the one thing that still felt truly nostalgic to Loke. The lion spirit knew Reagaltiel had loved Vraylinish with all that he was due to the image of her amputated arm hitting the ground in front of the Star Singer in every single version of his dreadful dream. Reagaltiel's anguished thoughts from that moment were set in the hardest of stone. The memory of an all consuming love was so tenacious and entrenched that Loke had never rid himself of that bone deep conviction.

Although he would never admit it aloud, Loke did know plenty about the Sacred Saint, although everything else was hazy at best. Loke also knew every Star Singer spell to the point it was instinct thanks to the human who he most resembled of the many that died helping the Leo priest succeed.

Makarov's voice demanded his attention. "So you're saying that these strangers are telling the truth, Loke?"

Facing the wizened little Guild Master, Loke nodded. "Yeah. Although I'm not sure what's happening at this point. Then again, all of the zodiac key spirits are tearing apart the Celestial Library trying to find a cure for Lucy at the moment. Ophiuchus is making some medicines that should help Lucy cope with whatever this illness is. We already know the same illness killed her mother, but not much else. We have ruled out poisons and many other possibilities for why she's so ill."

Gajeel spoke. "According to these dragons, Bunny Girl's got a magical drain illness. These guys all seem to think it has something to do with the Abyss Lord trying to kill her."

Loke furrowed his brows as he considered the information. "We already know that Lucy's magic is being drained at an alarming rate, Gajeel. All of the Zodiac that Lucy holds the keys of are sharing as much power with Lucy as we dare to keep her core stable."

"If Abyss is attacking this Singer directly, her Blood Seal, and corresponding Celestial Spirit chains will become visible five minutes before she dies, Loke. Do you have any idea which Celestial Spirit she is related to by bloodline?"

"The Abyss Lord trying to corrode Lucy's Astral chain is probably the missing link I've been seeking. I'll have to speak to His Majesty and see if he can help Lucy break any spells that might be contributing to her being so sick. He always calls anyone attached to him 'old friend' so I know Lucy's directly linked to our Spirit King's seal."

"Which constellation would your Spirit King happen to represent, Loke?" Twin voices asked with a nerve grating undertone that shot a wave of dread through Loke's system

Turning to glare at the Fairies, Loke responded, "Orion is His Majesty's constellation. Why are you even interested in knowing which Star Temple he represented in summoning the Phoenix?"

The group's horrified expressions felt like a physical blow upside Loke's head. His guts twisted in a knot as the ancient warriors froze into rigid statues. Hearing that Lucy was sealed to the Orion Seal was obviously frightening news to them. Unsettled by their reaction, Loke snapped, "Why are you looking at me like I doomed all of Earthland?"

Sertatsie was the first to recover. "As a last resort and fail safe, all the most powerful survivors of all races placed a secondary spell on Orion's Blood Seal because the temple High Priest had so many relatives and descendants with strong Star Singer ability."

Dread fisted Loke's heart and strangled his lungs. "What did you morons do?"

Twin subdued voices answered so softly that Loke almost missed their words. "In the event a bloodline was destroyed, Orion's descendants would automatically take on the power feed burden of the lost bloodline to maintain the Blood Seals."

Loke's existence tilted on it's axis as the words hit home and he realized the truth. Fury kindled like a wild fire in his veins, pulsed down the length of his astral chain, feeding excess constellation energy back into his body. "If one of the Zodiac bloodlines has become extinct, then Lucy got stuck with the burden of powering an additional Blood Seal?! Is that what you're saying has happened?"

Instead of words, all four of them meekly nodded. Loke's temper exploded as full throated roars of anger. "Do any of you realize what you're stupid safeguard really means? Didn't you realize that doing something so stupid could destroy a second bloodline and insure the Abyss Lord's freedom? Zeref and his followers have been systematically killing off every member of the Star Singer lineages they could find for the last four hundred years!"

Pacing back and forth in front of the small group of ancient mages, Loke continued to scream as his mind plotted the most likely outcome for what the magical races had unwittingly set in motion. "If Lucy's stuck personally empowering two of the Blood Seals simultaneously, there's very little possibility of saving her life! We're looking at a dangerous potential recoil situation if the few remaining members of her bloodline gets hit and overwhelmed with trying to compensate by synchronously feeding multiple Blood Seals if she dies!"

Loke felt more than heard additional people closing on his position. A glance revealed a very angry looking Gajeel, Makarov, Grey, Mirajane, and Erza stomping up to support him. Their power rising to create visible glows, death glares announcing their determination to protect Lucy. Loke knew he probably looked the same.

Nadhasti explained. "We thought with the large number of family members attached to Orion's Seal it would be the only one that could handle splitting the burden of powering a lost lineage seal. She shouldn't be alone in feeding a second Blood Seal since there were a large number of descendants to be born. Orion's Temple had a large number of Star Singer priests from Kainon and his brother Setheon. They both had many powerful offspring, and grand children by the time Tenru happened. It made sense to protect the seals by creating a failsafe binding at the time."

Loke felt his power flaring around his hands and saw the golden power spiraling around his fists to flow almost to his elbows. He fought the urge toward physical violence rising within. "None of the Star Singer lineages are plentiful since Zeref began exterminating them! You fools may have fucking killed Lucy's mother when she was a little girl because of your safeguard spell! Is there anything else that you Dumb Asses tampered with that we Celestial Spirits really need to know about? How about starting with the spell to free Lucy from the extreme drain so we can keep her alive without killing anyone else in her family?"

"Only a spare from the original Blood Seal family can take the burden." Sertatsie answered.

Erza stepped in front of Loke with her hands on her hips and a blue black aura seeping out of her armor to surround her in a fearsome aura. "Is there a way to attach the seals to lacrimas as their main power source? The magic contained in lacramas could be infused by almost anyone which would take the strain off of Lucy and anyone else cursed by you."

Loke felt hope flaring as Erza's idea held a lot of merit. Fueling the seals from a multitude of magical sources would insure the Blood Seals could never falter due to a lack of magic. Lacrimas could be fine tuned to shift the energies into the right frequency no matter what kind of magic was used as the power source. It was a beautiful idea, and he was busy thinking about how to tune the stones so that all of Fairy Tail's resident mages could contribute power to saving Lucy.

His ears tuned into the twin voices that grated on his nerves and incited creepy shivers down his spine. ". . . were so simple. Astral Star Chains won't function long without blood backed power. All Star Singers are blood powered. We aren't the ones who created that little problem you know. The sixteen Constellation priests who became the Blood Seals are responsible for that glitch. We survivors did what was needed to insure the Abyss Lord can't escape the pocket dimension where it is chained down by the Star Guardians whom you call Celestial Spirits. The Abyss Lord's influence made it possible to silence all non blood powered magic users called Celestial Mages recently with some kind of major spell. It was this change that triggered loosening the time suspension aspect of our sleep cocoons so we would awaken in time to fight the Abyss Lord again."

Hope deflating, Loke realized the Fairies were right. Star Singers had always been bloodline oriented. Celestial mages had come later, taught what they could learn from the Star Singers. If anything, the majority of Celestial Mages were small sized portal creators. None of them were able to feel the stars power as it shone onto their bodies, nor could they naturally absorb the star energy surrounding them.

"You mean that fucking Infinity Clock that Bunny Girl got shoved into a while back was tampered with somehow by this Abyss Lord we've got to stop . . ." Gajeel's gravelly voice was flat with certainty.

A crackling boom filled the air before anyone could respond. The sound of sizzling energy spread as Loke turned to see Laxus and Natsu clinging to Lucy's energy shrouded form as no less than five large and one thin black ropes of power tried to encase her body. The black lightning like energy ropes were tugging Lucy upward and into the vacuum like hole that was pulsing in the clear sky above their group.

Determined to protect Lucy, Loke lunged toward his master only to have one of the black chains suddenly split and recoil from Lucy's suspension sphere to strike his midriff. Black energy slammed into his body, slithering toward Loke's core. The force of the black powers contact flung Loke onto the ground. Hard impact tore the air from Loke's lungs. His hands encased with Regulus power wrapped around the black pulsing cord as Loke fought to pull it out of his chakra center. It did not escape his notice that the black power had traveled down the astral link he tied to Lucy to shore up her life force.

Loke knew that if the black power gained control of his Astral Star Chain, it would stop the flow of Regulus and other stars power which Loke depended upon to maintain the prison, and protect Lucy. Failure was not an option with so much at stake. Cutting all energy supplies to Lucy was necessary, but difficult. With the burrowing parasitic power trying to overwhelm Loke, remaining in full control of his own magic was becoming a strain.

In the back of his mind Loke cursed the Fairies and all the other magical races for having tampered with the Star Phoenix's original prison parameters. If not for their meddling, it was unlikely that he and Lucy would be in a life and death struggle. Tugging up with all his might as Loke focused on drawing a burst of new star fire into his body to counter the invader, Loke rolled onto his side. Agony blinded his eyes with tears as he writhed from the sensation reminiscent of thousands of millipede legs moving through his nervous system.

Searing electricity rippled through Loke's body a moment later. The power came from another origin it seemed. Someone was chanting next to his ear in the ancient tongue as the painful bolt of magic encased the black magic and stopped the alarming crawling sensation from getting any stronger. Moments later, Loke felt the invasive spell getting torn from his body as if it were no more troublesome than a large splinter squeezed until it popped free of infected skin. It was almost as painful as the initial attack, but Loke was grateful for this pain.

Gasping for air, Loke tried to focus his watering eyes on his savior's face. Before his eyes were clear enough to focus his vision, hands were jerking him upright as twin voices collided as one. "We have to help the Star Singer now. We broke the link so you will be safe. Do not make another one or you might be destroyed next time."

The sudden buzz of wings slapped Loke's ears as the hands vanished from his arm. Owing a pedigree Fairy pair for his life did not sit well with Loke, but he did owe them his thanks because of their intervention. Granted their sadistic side had shown itself in how the ripped the spell out of him, but Loke knew they were incapable of true compassion. With a deep, cleansing breath, Loke wiped residual tears from his eyes and decided to overlook that aspect of their help.

Jumping to his feet, Loke focused on finding Lucy's position. Everyone was converging upon her and Laxus, doing all they could to keep her from being snatched from Laxus's grasp. Natsu was bellowing and attacking the black cords with his dragon's roar to no avail. Gajeel's hands passed through them as if they did not exist as he sought to grab hold and pull against the force dragging Laxus and Natsu beneath the void opening.

The Fairies present did something that Loke did not quite see, yet Natsu seemed unable to open his mouth to unleash a second such roar upon the blackness attacking Lucy's frail body. The petite pair, one hand linked as was ever the case with the dratted race, shot up closer to the opening from where the cords emanated. The pair linked their second hands as they hovered above the black lines threatening Lucy. Overlapping power began to rise, spiraling upward as their inhuman true voices blended into an ancient One Power song that sent shockwaves through the atmosphere.

Loke stumbled closer to his mistress, digging deeper into his resources of star fire to alert the other Zodiac spirits that they had an emergency on their hands. The spell was wordless, but his Astral Star Chain blazed brilliant Gold which would resonate within the Celestial Realm as he called upon all of Regulus and it's companions' power for his own use. Grabbing the thickest of the offensive astral cables that were trying to drag Lucy into the void above, Loke dug in his heels and began to pull down with all his star fire backed ability. Taking some of the strain off of Laxus who was miraculously still standing on the ground was the wisest thing Loke could do at the moment. The amount of tug that Loke encountered would have yanked a smaller man like Natsu into the air almost immediately. He unleashed some of his star fire into the astral link and watched as it began to twist and writhe within the black magic it was countering. If he could sever the largest of the strands, they would be better able to repeat the same action and free Lucy.

"What the fuck are these bindings? Blondie's in major trouble. Doesn't anyone in the guild know a way to break these damned things before they kill her?" Laxus roared.

A glance back to see why Laxus was wasting energy on screaming showed Loke the worst case scenario. Gajeel, Natsu and Laxus were all trying to maintain hand holds on Lucy's body. It was not that which stopped Loke's heart beat. The vision of Lucy's soul being pulled from her body, multiple silvery white chains locked into her soul core and vibrating at an insane rate was to blame for Loke's panic. Darkened cracks were forming as the core of Lucy's spirit was strained by the blackness of the magic attacking her. The black cords were actually astral chains embedded in Lucy's soul. Far too many chains were attached to her life force. How she had managed to survive with so much power drain was beyond Loke to process. It was now imperative that they fight to get enough slack in the black cables to get Lucy's soul seated inside her body again.

As if his Celestial Spirit companions had heard his desperation driven thoughts, Perseus, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Taurus, and the Celestial King all flashed into the clearing and began grabbing the other black cables that to enter into the tug of war for Lucy's body. How the Celestial Spirit King managed to show up without more Zodiac Keys and deaths was beyond Loke, but he was relieved that he was not following Aquarius's sad fate all the same. Their team work and star power combined had to make it possible to gain the slack needed before Lucy's core being shattered. If her soul literally shattered, there would be no after life for their beloved Master, and that was one thing Loke flat refused to allow. How they would heal Lucy's soul was not yet known, but Loke silently vowed he was going to find the way just as soon as they won this tug of war, and removed every drop of black magic from the obscene number of astral chains tied to Lucy's soul seat.

~~oo0oo~~


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews that let me know this experimental dip into a new genre is well received. **Because of Wendy's first Guild bringing ancient magic craziness to light in the anime, expect insane, powerful ancient mages since it fits with cannon concepts.** Also using genuine "Celtic Mythology" variety immortals with almost translucent skin gargoyle structure wings for the "Pedigree" Fairies, not 'Disney's Tinkerbell.' {Ancient dead language spoken}

CHAPTER 5

The combined power drain of active seals and the deadly corrosion caused by the black magic infiltrating her soul was killing Lucy in ways no mortal could comprehend. Fear clogged Loke's throat as he and the other Celestial Spirits did all in their power to thrust the black power into the void above them, plus tug the astral chains back to create slack before Lucy's body was lost in the void. Worse, the chains' strain on her soul core could still do deadly harm and shatter her beyond reincarnation capability. Lucy's soul was most likely developing fissures as her chains were attacked by the Abyss Lord. If her soul core shattered form the combination there was no way for Lucy to ever reincarnate with this death. Her soul seat was everything the process of being reborn required.

Loke cursed as his feet slipped forward despite digging in his heels.

"What the fuck's that coming out of Luce's chest?" Natsu demanded, edgy fear tainting his voice.

"Metalicana told us earlier that chains would appear if Bunny Girl was about to die. They gotta be what he was talking about, Dumb shit. Just focus on keeping your hold on her body and let her Spirits handle the damned rope spells already. They're better suited to the job since we can't physically grab the damned things!"

"I want to fight whoever's attacking Luce, Metal Freak! I'm not doing anything to save her by pulling on her legs like this!"

"Shut the fuck up and don't you dare even think about letting go of Blondie's legs, Flame Thrower! If you let go we lose her body and then we've got no chance at all of saving her!" Laxus bellowed.

Blinding light flared overhead as an explosive concussion of wind came close to knocking everyone off their feet. Virgo proved their best anchor which did not surprise Loke in the least. Her connection to the earthier aspects of star power made it possible for her to stabilize all of them and refuse to give ground. A glance at the fierce expression on the Celestial Maid's face made Loke glad he was not the one who had angered Virgo. Although Loke was considered the most flexible fighter in most situations, Virgo was the most vindictive and meanest when she got mad. From the glance he had gotten, Virgo was far beyond mad at the moment. She had a murderous aura rising around her body. Not even Erza could match the maid's death glare which was directed at the void hole in the sky.

More curses flew into Loke's ears as he sought to focus on pouring his power into the chains and cleaning the taint as he hauled back with all his weight to pull the chain in his favor. The chain began retracting and he got yet another step closer to Lucy's body. Perseus the Hero was also making small headway at cleaning and pulling his chain toward their Princess.

Makarov's voice almost undid Loke's concentration. "What happens when Lucy's silver colored soul comes out of that protective sphere, Dragons?"

Loke refused to look back. He knew if he saw Lucy's soul breaching the suspended animation spell, he would panic. Panic would insure that he lost the most important human he had ever met. If Lucy would simply change her mind and allow it, Loke would wrap himself around his beloved Celestial Mage and never let go while she was alive. If Lucy asked it of him, Loke was certain he could give up flirting with women so long as he could keep flirting with Lucy instead. Loke would do anything to save Lucy without a second thought. Regret did not enter his head when it came to throwing himself against anyone who threatened his beautiful, and warm hearted master.

"The poor woman's dead already. Her soul core's breaking as it's being ripped from her body! All we can do at this point is sever the chains and attach them to the spares." Nadhasti was almost on top of Loke as she snapped the nasty response.

"Fuck you, Nadhasti! You keep your fucking Fairy controlled paws off of Lucy! She's not dead, and we will save her!" Loke twisted his upper body close enough to roar in the woman's face.

"Have you lost your mind? Her soul seat's fracturing under the strain. I don't give a damn about whether or not you can handle the truth right now. We've got to keep the Abyss Lord form getting loose and she's no longer able to feed the Blood Seals. Zayden and Skuhldra and I can shore up and feed the Seals long enough to attach them to new Star Singers. If we cut the chains now, we can stabilize the prison dimension in time!"

Before Loke completely lost it and let go of his chain to slug the cold blooded wretch, his king reached down and grabbed the tiny hybrid by her furs. His Majesty tossed Nadhasti away from the astral chains. "Leave Lucy Heartfilia alone. Loke's right about our old friend. Princess Lucy isn't dead yet, and we will find a way to save her life. We Celestial Spirits owe our old friend a debt far greater than you can imagine. Risking the prison leaking some of the Abyss Lord's power to save our beloved and most powerful ally is a worthwhile risk we will take!"

"You fools don't have the right to risk this world's fate to fawn over a mostly dead female!" Twin voices shrieked in tandem.

The pair continued to shout, but were speaking in the ancient tongue. Nadhasti was the only word Loke fully understood, although he had enough recall of Reagaltiel's knowledge to understand they were up to something very detrimental to Lucy's survival. However, Loke was resistant to allowing the dead's memories to surface enough to swamp his mind. Unlike the other Celestial Spirits, Loke found the ancient memories from before he came into being too traumatic, so forced them into confinement. Remembering the ancient dead tongues of thousands of years ago was necessary though if he was going to protect Lucy's life.

A feral growl escaped Loke's throat as he lifted his eyes to where the deadly duo hovered. They were becoming a very dangerous problem since they had chosen to be murderous in their whimsical desires. He saw a much larger hand grab onto the chain he was fighting to purge. "Loke, I can manage both chains. I'm entrusting Lucy's survival to you. Stop them before they can force their desires upon us all."

"They won't touch a hair of our princess's head, Majesty." Loke answered as he released his chain and ducked under the massive arm of his king.

Natsu must have heard them because the Fire Dragon Slayer was cracking his knuckles with a savage expression as he moved with Loke towards the Fey Mage who was singing in a soft voice, power flashing from her fingertips. Nadhasti was levitating above the ground a power encircled her in loose spirals, lifting her even higher. She was almost beyond his jumping height already.

"I'm fired up now. Now I can do something to save Luce."

Loke felt a smirk cross his lips despite feeling a bit pessimistic about their chances. Natsu simply had a way of bringing out hope in others. "Be sure to use your power wisely. None of them are human which means they are extremely tough opponents. Fairies are damned near indestructible, and truly immortal. Their half breed children are as hard to take down as enraged prime aged dragons."

"Don't bullshit me, Loke!"

"I can only wish I was bullshitting, Natsu! The Fairy race was the most powerful, and deadliest of all the magical races that existed in Earthland. They aren't anything like us no matter how they look. Fairies don't have emotions like love or compassion. They amuse themselves by enslaving and abusing people of different races to escape boredom! They don't understand friendship either. Cold blooded doesn't begin to cover the kinds of shit the Fairies pulled for their own entertainment when they ruled this world. To stop them from killing Lucy s going to take everything we've got and more." Loke spoke as he kept pace with the jogging dragon slayer.

"We won't lose 'cause Luce needs us." Natsu flashed his trademark grin and slammed his fists together. Fire sparked to life as they charged toward Nadhasti.

Loke knew they had to make it before whatever spell she was casting was complete. The biggest problem would be getting high enough to hit the Fey mage before Nadhasti's cast was completed. Ancient Fey magic was primal, unfettered by the same rules of the modern magic bases. Loke could use the ancient Star Singer power if he wished, but rarely drew so much from external sources. Feys and Fairies inhaled external energy and converted it as if it was simply an extension of their own selves. Fairies and Feys sometimes killed other life forms by draining their life force as magical power. Drawing power from everything without any awareness of their actions was part of their nature. Insects, plants, and even small animals would start dying within minutes if Nadhasti, Zayden, and Skuhldra used their magic simultaneously for more than a few minutes.

Increasing Loke's growing horror, Nadhasti's bands of power began to solidify into a blocky archway that swirled with tempestuous magic. Nadhasti was opening a very large gate and that took an immense amount of power to stabilize. With her Fairy pure blood masters also using their combined One Power magic to combat the void, the drain on the elements, and even lesser creatures around them would begin happening soon.

But, to where, or to whom was the gate intended to connect Loke wondered? Before he and Natsu could attack, the gate blasted out a considerable amount of power which knocked them off their power blast meant that Nadhasti's gate was already open so they were much too late to stop whatever was about to arrive. It had blasted them back instead of dragging them in which was typical of an ancient gate. Modern magic tended to create an actual physical looking door which was a two way entrance into another place. One way only was the law with Nadhasti's magic if Loke recalled his ancient lore well enough.

Twisting in the air, Loke managed to insure he would roll back onto his feet the second he stopped tumbling. Like himself, Natsu was quick to get back to his feet, ready to begin a second charge.

Natsu lunged toward the Fey mage without considering what the gate's opening even meant. Loke yelled as he turned toward the gate's opening. "Natsu, be careful of the ancient gate. We don't know what's coming out of it yet!"

The pink haired Slayer was too focused on reaching Nadhasti it seemed. Just as Natsu dipped into a crouch to catapult himself to reach ancient mage, a whirlwind of rainbow hued power shot out of the brilliant shimmering gate with the force of large battering ram. The impact slammed into Natsu, flinging him away like a tiny rag doll. A string of curses exploded from Loke's lips as he flung himself to the side before the magic attack could take him out also.

Vaulting back onto his feet, Loke was angrier than he had been for centuries. Resigned to the inevitable, Loke began to shift his focus to shunt energy from all the stars that he could. Dropping into his blended core, the Lion spirit opened himself to the pieces of all whom had died to create his existence. Memories flooded Loke's awareness that were not actually his own.

Ancients never thought about after effects or consequences, nor moderated their magical power use when they cast a spell. Everything magical so many millennia ago was grounded in using one hundred and ten percent raw power from the moment an ancient mage began casting any spell. The idea of moderation never entered an ancient mage's mind. Conserving power was never considered because the idea had yet to be invented. Rules based upon morality were unknowns for the most part.

The common practice was for multiple mages to create the Gateway Clearing spell before stepping into any new territory rose unbidden. It was created by fusing powerful mages dominant elemental strengths into a single large as the gateway, corkscrewing physical attack. The attack's purpose was to throw anything close to the gate away to insure a safe exit for everyone inside the gate who could not see what they were about to be confronted with once they stepping into the new area.

Gateway Clearing was the worst possible spell for Natsu to get his very first bone shattering taste of how vicious ancient mages were Loke felt. It would be very hard for Natsu to get up after getting hit with what amounted to a massive hard swung wrecking ball's raw force. Even if he did stand again, Loke knew he would be suffering shattered bones that would make physical attacks very difficult, if he even had enough bones left to get back on his feet. Gateway Clearing was a demon slowing tactic from the ancient times before the inter-dimensional gates were finally closed for good. Demon Banes were the ones fondest of using gates combined with such tactics.

Processing the information in a matter of seconds, Loke drew on the maximum tappable power he still had at his disposal and crouched to attack. Three figures shot out of the gate and into view. As the memories warned him, five ancient mages leapt out in a defensive pattern to insure the way stayed clear for others to exit the gateway. All were dressed in primitive furry pelts haphazardly tied together. Their borderline stone aged, very large honed bone based weapons and caveman looks still shocked Loke despite being aware he had to expect this primitive looking group. The most startling of this wild looking group was a massive Centaur warrior bearing what amounted to a deck clearer class bone and flaked obsidian axe that had to weigh close to one hundred pounds.

Orders were snapped in the ancient tongue, but this time Loke understood what was said because of opening himself to such recall. {"Meluzinia, check to see if Sertatsie's here. If she's present, get us five balls of instant information transfer magic because this may be a real emergency. Winhermeare, insure this gate hasn't been opened because Skuhldra is up to her fucked up power trips again. She may have bullied Zayden into letting her use Nadhasti against her will with the thought of getting to the Star Singers in Time Suspension to fix everything to her liking, instead of following our rules."}

The shorter of the females snapped open her wings Loke repressed a desire to groan as he had mistaken the wings some kind of stiff cloak. The petite female leapt into the air, wing beats creating a small whirlwind of swirling dirt around the gate. Just what they did not need right now, Fey hybrids who had managed to mature with their wings intact Loke thought on a sarcastic note. Things were shaping up to become a true nightmare of the kind none of the modern mages had ever conceived was possible.

{"Want me to punish that pair if she's breaking the rules?} The tallest, reddish skinned female with matted hair asked of the woman who was snapping orders.

{Not if she doesn't make a wrong move, Winhermeare. My eyes are seeing quite a mess of magical tug of war already however, so I think there is a solid chance that the rabid little minx might be somewhat following the plan. Though I'm certain she was counting on getting She Wolf out of sleep instead of me."} A sharp nod in response from the very tall woman was all the response given before the red skinned Fey leapt forward so fast that she literally vanished from Loke's sight.

The leader of the group whirled toward the Centaur who had noticed him and started pawing the ground. Loke knew Sagittarius was a fusion of Centaur and human Star Singer memories and forms. Yet this male was the largest specimen Loke's core memory banks had ever encountered. A massive black and white draft horse's body was topped by a lightly furred, and hulking muscle man's upper body. As was their way, a single pelt covered the magical being's forward genitalia which could not be retracted, leaving the rear horse genitals in their retracted state.

Loke did not have time to ponder how he knew Centaurs had two set of genitals or why that was normal for the species. A at this moment all Loke had the luxury of considering was that the monster before him easily weighed in the range of a solid ton and a half. Centaurs were fast moving, powerful, damned flexible on their four bone crushing hooves, plus very smart. Their eye sight was better than an eagles, and they did not miss their intended mark.

Thinking fast was Loke's only option since he could not retreat to the Celestial realm with Lucy's life on the line. A memory surfaced of how obsessed Centaurs were about their dignity which Loke latched onto as his best ray of hope. Give the beast a reason to think he was about to do something that went against the species main drives, and Loke stood a chance of creating real havoc amongst the ranks to come.

Forcing himself deeper into the core data from the many people he had been born from, Loke hoped he would get the inflections of the guttural ancient tongue right as he spoke with all the contempt he could muster. {"So, the fucking Fairies aren't happy butchering a single already helpless innocent by themselves and have called in their burliest backup!"}

The Centaur backed up a step as his deck clearing sized axe whipped into position to cleave Loke in half once he charged with a livid expression mottling his face. Their leader jumped between them with a hand up and power flowing from her fingertips to form a net weave.

{Reagaltiel? What in the name of the thrice blasted tree are you doing here?"} she demanded as the Centaur dropped the axe back and relaxed his stance.

Images from Loke's gut wrenching nightmares surfaced. He was looking at the one person that could not possibly be alive. Not only did it seem the Sacred Saint was alive, somehow Vraylinish had two arms. A quick glance at the one showed that this woman was missing the taboo tattoo she should have been sporting, which meant Loke could assume he was dealing with an imposter.

{My name's Leo. I'm the Celestial Spirit of Regulus and the rest of the star constellation that bears the same name. My duty is to protect the Celestial Mage who is battling for her life at this very moment. Your friends forced us to divide our strength, but we Spirits won't let you kill our Princess just because it suits your cold blooded whims!} Loke spat out.

All the fury Loke could muster was pitted against the sense of shock and other dangerous emotions that tried to claw to the surface. To prevent himself from losing his focus the lion spirit increased the golden spheres covering his hands. Loke refused to falter when the young woman he knew to be the greatest light in Earthland had her life on the line. Not even his created soul core's memories were allowed to interfere with his contracted vows. Lucy had saved his life and gotten him a reprieve from death. Loke had vowed to protect Lucy from all harm and he was doing a lousy job of it so far.

The winged Fey dropped to the ground near Vraylinish, or the Sacred Saint's imposter as the case might be, and handed over a small sphere of magic. The possible imposter lifted the small sphere to the heavy leather headband adorned with raw chunks of un-smelted gold and course stones upon her brow. The moment the sphere touched the raw precious metal and course sewn sinew bound stones, the light was sucked in.

The look on the woman's face changed dramatically after several seconds. The Centaur was following their leader's actions and had also pushed a light ball into a similar circlet which likewise disappeared into his mind if Loke were to guess what they doing.

{So that's what's happening. Meluzinia get Winhermeare her information so she knows how to deal with Skuhldra. I've got to save an innocent. Call out the twenty elites, and we're going to need our best healers. Bring out She Wolf, and a single member of each Star Singer bloodline so we can begin to get some astral chains moved to their correct bloodlines as fast as we can without killing the bonded. RoMordian, we need a perimeter protection set up around the Star Singer's position where none may harm her further. Leave Skuhldra and Zayden to Winhermeare's judgement. NOW GO!"} The woman was snapping orders rapid fire yet again.

Whirling back to face him, Vraylinish surprised Loke by speaking in modern language. "You have my sincerest apologies for Skuhldra's bad behavior. Of course we will save your Star Singer's life if at all possible. As she's holding so many astral chains, then we're going to have to move fast, and find a way to stabilize her soul core. First, I need to use Star Storm to cleanse to corrosion away from her astral chains so we can get her soul stabilized. Once the healers are out of their sleeping spheres, we can try to heal her soul core. Let's move."

The others were already in action as Vraylinish grabbed his wrist and began running toward the scene of the fight between Celestial Spirits, Fairies, and the Abyss Lord's black magic. The woman continued speaking, "Tell your friends to remain calm so I can get what needs done completed faster. We don't have time to fight. I am aware now that you do not recall who I am, so try to have some faith in me. I did not vow to spend all eternity fighting the Abyss Lord and losing all that I loved in the world thousands of years ago to lose to that monster now!"

"Fine, but you don't have to drag me around. I can run on my own god damn it!" Loke snapped as he ripped his arm free and began yelling to get his king's attention. "This group is here to help. They're going to try and save our Princess, Majesty!"


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I can't wrangle full days of free time from 'Real World' responsibilities so please expect time lags between chapters. In case you're getting tired of this fight, it is almost over and done so thanks for sticking with it for so long. Thanks to all who are following this story, or have left reviews. I truly enjoy all the input I've received. Entering a new writing genre can be quite daunting, so the positive reviews are much appreciated.

CHAPTER 6

To say Laxus was enraged was the greatest understatement anyone could make as he grabbed Fairy Tail's celestial mage and protected her from Natsu's volatile tempered hold. Having heard everything said, and understanding what was at stake, Laxus' temper ignited into powerful, instinctive, beastly hatred toward these strangers who as much as claimed they were the reason for Lucy Heartfilia being in such bad shape. Everything wrong with Lucy might be happening because of these newcomers past actions, and it appeared that Lucy was paying the price.

The comforter wrapped woman was going to stay in Laxus' arms no matter what the impatient salmon haired moron demanded. Natsu's inevitable recklessness and unstable temperament was a dangerous combination with their Celestial Mage being so fragile from illness. Everything about Natsu's angry tirade was unfounded in Laxus' opinion because it took so long for the moron to recognize that his partner was not breathing. Natsu's lack of attention where his supposed best friend was concerned rendered Laxus near to the state of mouth frothing fury. The fact Natsu claimed Lucy was his best friend pissed Laxus off to the point he was debating the pros and cons of zapping the idiot into an unconscious state when multiple dark vines of power descended with the speed and noise of lightning bolts.

The black bolts slammed into the woman Laxus was holding, and almost ripped her out of his grip. The attack came so fast that Laxus' reflexes were much faster than his mind's ability to register the emergency. Instinct had Laxus straining his muscles to the maximum he dared to prevent a spell from taking Lucy away from him. His bigger size and extra weight came in handy because he was able to maintain his footing, yet Laxus knew it would not last. Had Natsu been holding Lucy when the bolts hit, both would have been airborne, and yanked into the expanding ebony hued hole above their heads. The back of Laxus mind raced to sort and catalogue everything happening to design a working counterattack while gripping the nubile body of his guild mate in a life and death struggle that Laxus feared losing.

The frilly comforter landed on the ground, getting tangled around Laxus' legs as the chains hauled them closer to the expanding void in the sky. Lucy's comforter cost Laxus considerable distance before it was kicked free. Knowing he has stumbled so much only increased the simmer of unstoppable fury pounding through Laxus' body over this uncalled for attack.

Natsu attacked the black encased chains with his dragon's roar. Gajeel's hands passed through the powerful black bindings if they did not exist. The Iron Slayer's furious profile helped Laxus maintain his rigid self control over his lightning. They could not touch the offending chains physically or with magic which made this fight far more difficult to win.

The Fairy pair smacked Natsu with some sort of spell that prevented him from unleashing another Dragon Roar. The petite pair, holding hands grumbled, "Save your power. You can't attack corrupted Astral Chains with your kinds of magic. All you'll do is interfere with us. Leave the void to us. We have the best chance of closing it."

The pair flew toward the opening, linked their free hands as they hovered above the chains that tugged at Laxus and his impromptu fast forming Dragon Slayer team. Overlapping power began to rise, spiraling upward as ethereal voices blended in song. Shockwaves of raw power began to shiver in the air with oppressive weight and yet whatever spell they were casting had yet to be unleashed. Laxus had to give them credit for being powerful at least. It seemed Fairies might have even invented Union Raid.

Changing strategy, Gajeel slipped his arm between Laxus, and Lucy's bodies, his arm wrapping behind her neck and over the collar bone to cross her upper body. He strengthened his hold by dropping his arm beneath her opposite arm. Gajeel's opposite hand locked onto his forearm as he joined Laxus in keeping Lucy from getting snatched. Were it not an emergency, Laxus would have beat the hell out of the black haired man for touching Lucy like that. It was the safest way to keep from dislocating Lucy's shoulder, but the burly man would have a hard time not breaking any of her bones if the draw from those invisibly cranked chains got much stronger.

As if Gajeel had heard Laxus thoughts, he released his lower interlocked arm after the next extreme yank, and turned it into a steel rod. The Iron Dragon Slayer embedded the rod into the ground directly in front of them to fight against the intense drag. His hooked arm's hand grabbed onto his metal changed, extended arm. With a slight hiss, Gajeel dug fast extending metal claws into his own bicep to retain his grip on their guild mate.

Laxus grimaced over his emotional upheaval. _'If not for my taking Blondie away when the idiot finally figured out she wasn't breathing, she would be long gone and dead already. Thank the Gods that I don't trust Flame Brain's explosive temper. My intervention insured she's still with us. She's so important that I can't half ass devising counter attacks because she could get killed. Damn it! I gotta save Blondie_.'

Laxus saw they were still losing ground despite Gajeel, and Natsu holding onto Lucy alongside him. Natsu was only in charge of Lucy's legs, but Laxus wondered how long their teamwork would last. Laxus knew this twisted battle of tug-o-war was not part of Natsu's nature. Worst of all, Laxus was in pain from the ear-drum splitting, fury-induced screams that came from their guild mates. If he was hurting, Gajeel and Natsu were in similar pain.

The astral chains exerted more force, and all three Slayers' heels broke beneath the grass roots, ripping the plants out of the ground. The drag increased with each breath Laxus took as he kept his feet planted in front of himself, and leaned back at an angle. Some kind of sphere was coming out of Lucy's chest, and Laxus had a very bad feeling about that small, iridescent white glow.

'_How important is the bubble of light slowly rising out of her chest because of the chains that I can't touch? The chains seem to be tied to the sphere. Could Blondie die if that expanding light coming out of her gets swept up into the void? Will she survive but lose all of her magic if that light gets stolen? What if that's the curse seal they were fighting about earlier? Will losing it save Blondie's life, or not? Fuck, I wish I knew what that glow is so I could do something more for her!_'

Natsu started whining which distracted Laxus. "Why do I have to keep hanging onto Luce's legs? I can't fight if I'm getting drug around! If I let Luce go, my nose can track her down no matter where that black hole might take her. I can stop the mage doing this to Luce since he can't be that far away!"

"That black hole's power is designed to kill Bunny Girl if she hits it, Salamander! Can't you feel the destructive power pouring out of it?" Gajeel beat Laxus by ranting at their knuckle headed teammate.

"But I want to stop whoever's doing this to Luce. I can't save Luce unless I hunt the bastard down and roast him!"

Although Laxus was well aware that Natsu had never been very good at understanding anything outside of fire magic, it infuriated him to the point he began to entertain a genuine desire to murder the smaller Dragon Slayer. "Cutting these fucking chains is our first priority, Dumb Shit! Hunting the asshole down has to wait until this spell's broken. Blondie's life is on the line and that's more important than your need to hit someone. Don't you dare let go of her legs until our guild mates break the fucking chains that are reeling us in."

"The jerk should be near here. I'll find and knock him out to get rid of the spell! So holding onto Luce is pointless. Gramps can help you keep her here while I find the bastard and burn him to a crisp."

"How can you be so fucking ignorant? Don't you recognize that this attack is a very powerful, long range spell? The castors are probably working this spell in another town. It takes several S class mages working together to cast anything this complex. We have to break the spell from here or Blondie's dead! Unless we get attacked directly, just hold onto her legs and shut the fuck up!" Laxus rasped from deep in his chest, the voice reserved for when he was so angry he could not yell.

To prevent his lightning from escaping his control to zap Natsu unconscious when they most needed his strength, Laxus attuned to the recesses of his thoughts to grasp where his rage started.

'_Ash Brains has watered porridge for brain power outside of a fight so I expect to see Blondie limping into the Guild whenever Team Natsu does any job. Blondie probably does the thinking for Team Natsu when it's only her and Salamander before they start actively fighting. Erza knows decent strategy, so I've never worried about Team Natsu when she's with them, but now . . . If this immature prick can't figure out what his priorities need to be, I'm going to ask Gramps to move Blondie onto my team for her own safety for a while. If Blondie really is an extremely rare mage, Droopy eyes and Flame Thrower will get her killed with their stupid, reckless, competitive stunts. Sounds like Star Singers can use really ancient, lost magic. So that Blondie can harness her true power, we really need to get more information about where records and spells might be found. If Blondie learns to use more types of magic, then she might be able to protect herself until I arrive to take out her enemies.'_

Realization set in. Laxus felt a growing urge to unleash his lightning magic on Natsu because, like it or not, he was struggling to deny how attached he was to Lucy, and Natsu's attitude felt like a vile betrayal of the woman's trust. Images slamming through his mind were focused upon Lucy's gorgeous smile, and echoes of her tingle inducing, musical laughter. Had it been anyone else Laxus was trying to save, Natsu's ideals would have been reasonable to a point. From the corner of his vision, Laxus glimpsed a flash of ginger and saw Loke grabbing the chains which none of them could touch.

"What the fuck are these bindings? Blondie's in major trouble. Doesn't anyone in the guild know a way to break these damned things before they kill her?" Laxus roared, looking at the Celestial Spirit who did not answer as he dug in his heels while yanking back on the largest chain in the group to help them.

'_Why can't anyone but Celestial Spirits grab these damned chains if Zeref's underlings or Zeref himself cast this spell to kill Blondie so they can free that demon? Can Loke even break the damned things? Blondie doesn't have enough time to waste on playing this twisted game of tug-o-war. The only thing we can do to turn the tables is get rid of the chains coming out of Blondie's chest as far as I can tell.'_

Laxus glanced over the impromptu battlefield as the tugging eased slightly thanks to Loke's actions. They needed to get the chains dealt with first. Accomplish that and Laxus could set anything else planned as a counter attack into motion. The two dragons were hurling magical breath attacks of diverse types at the sky void. Both were having zero effect toward changing the battle's tides. Fairy Tail mages were attacking the black sphere above their heads with everything they could muster with the same disheartening result.

Without warning, multiple Celestial Spirits winked into the clearing and grabbed onto the untouchable chains. Their power was forcing the chains to change color before Laxus' eyes, yet nothing more comforting was happening. Loke must have called them to try and save their master for which Laxus felt grudging gratitude. A couple explosions unleashed by the pair of Fairies flying above them did little more than make standing far harder for Laxus and his team. If not for Lucy's pink haired maid, all of them would have been airborne and drug into the death gate.

Gajeel maintained his hold on Lucy without complaint, although he glanced back to shoot Laxus an unfathomable look before facing forward again. Ignoring the look, Laxus wracked his intellect to deal with everything happening to his favorite female mage, without getting her physically hurt.

"What the fuck's that coming out of Luce's chest?" Natsu demanded out of the blue in a quavering voice.

"Metalicana told us earlier that chains would appear if Bunny Girl was about to die. They gotta be what he was talking about, Dumb Shit. Just focus on keeping your hold on her body and let her Spirits handle the damned spell already. They're better suited to the job since we can't physically grab the damned things!"

"I want to fight whoever's attacking Luce, Metal Freak! I'm not doing anything to save her by pulling on her legs like this!"

"Shut the fuck up and don't you dare even think about letting go of Blondie's legs, Flame Thrower! If you let go we lose her body and then we've got no chance at all of saving her!" Laxus yelled at the impatient punk.

Makarov's voice filtered through all the shouted spells surrounding them. "What happens when Lucy's silver colored soul comes out of that protective sphere, Dragons?"

A glance at the Celestial Mage still caged within his arms by her waist widened Laxus eyes. Comprehension of what was being drawn from her body slammed into his brain. The knowledge provoked Laxus' lightning magic into writhing and boiling inside his blood because he was helpless to stop it from happening. He directed his power across his back to protect his favorite girl from additional pain. Fairy Tail's most beloved, biggest hearted member was having her soul ripped from her body, and the strongest mags in the guild were powerless to stop it. In his mind, Laxus swore that he would kick the shit out of the offenders who cursed Lucy's bloodline long before her birth once the woman was safe.

One of the ancients spoke with an odd accent to the spirits who were changing the chains colors and in a couple cases, gaining actual slack to relieve the strain on Lucy's body and soul. "The poor woman's dead already. Her soul core's breaking as it's being ripped from her body! All we can do at this point is sever the chains and attach them to the spares."

"Fuck you, Nadhasti! You keep your fucking Fairy controlled paws off of Lucy! She's not dead, and we will save her!" Loke screamed at the petite ancient.

"Have you lost your mind? Her soul seat's fracturing under the strain. I don't give a damn about whether or not you can handle the truth right now. We've got to keep the Abyss Lord form getting loose, and she's no longer able to feed the Blood Seals. Zayden and Skuhldra and I can shore up and feed the Seals long enough to attach them to new Star Singers. If we cut the chains now, we can stabilize the prison dimension in time!"

Terror settled into Laxus heart as he listened to the new argument about how to deal with the chains. Stabilizing the prison and getting the chains off of Lucy's soul sounded great to him, but the thought that Lucy was already dead filled him with an indescribable agony. What were Loke and the others going to do? The biggest spirit grabbed onto the chain Loke was fighting to gain slack in Laxus noticed while concentrating on the verbal sparring of the two groups. Fear was numbing Laxus because the ancients were saying that Lucy's soul was fracturing and she was already dead.

"Leave Lucy Heartfilia alone. Loke's right about our old friend. Princess Lucy isn't dead yet, and we will find a way to save her life. We Celestial Spirits owe our old friend a debt far greater than you can imagine. Risking the prison leaking some of the Abyss Lord's power to save our beloved and most powerful ally is a worthwhile risk we will take!"

The rising panic began to subside with the giant's words. If anyone knew whether or not Lucy was dead, it would be the spirits who obeyed her summons Laxus reasoned. The strain was starting to ease as the chain colors shifted more, and the slack increased. Lucy's soul was not completely horizontal, but had begun to sag a slight bit.

"You fools don't have the right to risk this world's fate to fawn over a mostly dead female!" The Faires blended voices hit a painful pitch as they shrieked.

The Fairy pair began chanting in their native tongue. Without knowing what was said, Laxus tensed even more. He considered the possibility of shifting his and Lucy's bodies into lightning to try and escape whatever they were planning, but had no idea as to whether or not it would end in Lucy's death if he tried to evade whatever was coming.

The long mustached giant spoke. "Loke, I can manage both chains. I'm entrusting Lucy's survival to you. Stop them before they can force their desires upon us all."

"They won't touch a hair of our princess's head, Majesty." Loke answered as he released his chain and ducked under the much larger spirit's arm.

"Hey, is there a way to break the chains that are stuck to Blondie's chest because something's getting yanked out of her body?" Laxus demanded of the Celestial Spirits closest to his position in hopes of spurring them into action.

"If we break these chains, Princess will die. Her Soul Core is being pulled out of her body but we are shifting the power in the chains and shoring up her life force and magic in time. Princess will be saved. None of us know where another mortal descendant of His Majesty is right now, so we cannot take any of the chains off of her yet. Breaking these chains also means another will get attacked by multiple chains' recoiling to find a much needed power source to keep the prison closed." The flat voice of the maid outfit wearing Spirit answered.

"Virgo's correct. We don't dare act rashly, but we can save Lucy by forcing the black power of the Abyss Lord back where it belongs and close his gate. Our power is helping to stabilize Lucy's Soul Core although we have reason to fear it may be irreversibly damaged by this kind of strain. We'll do everything we can for our old friend." The giant mustache wearing spirit took the time to explain.

The remaining spirits' powerful pulls on the chains helped to keep Laxus, and Gajeel's feet on the ground, yet Laxus wondered how much longer Lucy could withstand the agony of being pulled out of her physical body this way. The way he and Gajeel were forced into yanking back on her body had done plenty of damage Laxus was sure. It was going to require Wendy's top skills to heal Lucy's body, but could the youngest Dragon Slayer do anything for a soul? The gold power encasing Lucy kept her knocked out so she was not screaming, but that made little difference to Laxus. The normally smiling woman was being ripped apart as far as Laxus was concerned. Someone wanted Lucy Heartfilia dead in the most inhuman and vicious way imaginable. The only mercy Laxus saw in the situation was that Lucy was not screaming directly into his eardrums. Then again, Laxus would have let her scream in his ears until they bled if it increased her chances to survive this cruel attack.

Another blast of power slammed into them all from the right side. Laxus could barely keep his feet on the ground even with extra backup and it made him angrier than ever. Despite how hard Laxus was clinging to Lucy, his arms continued sliding down her body. Only then did he realize Natsu was missing. Laxus feared breaking Lucy's hip bones if he tightened his arms any more.

Fury over his favorite Fairy Tail mage's painful predicament set in. Everything said before this fight began had explained to Laxus why Lucy was consistently targeted by every major Dark Guild over a year and a half, or possibly longer. All the members of Fairy Tail had failed Lucy Heartfilia one time too many. Although it made him shudder, Laxus included himself in the list of failures due to his once blind arrogance. The ones Laxus was maddest at remained Team Natsu. They were the ones who should have been the most concerned for Lucy's welfare from the first abduction. Their concern should have grown with each attack that followed the first kidnaping committed. Instead, all of them continued to put their teammate in direct lines of danger with their combined insistence that Lucy was as strong as each of them.

In truth, Lucy was probably much stronger than all of them combined if what Laxus had deciphered was correct. However, the connection to the prison meant Lucy could only tap a fraction of her actual power at any given time. Drained of the bulk of her magic, Lucy Heartfilia called upon and fed power to multiple spirits at the same time without complaint. The reality of how much power had to be involved was staggering, and had probably added to the speed of Lucy's Magical Vitality Deprivation illness. The reality of how crippled the blond mage had been all along meant that Lucy should never have to drain her remaining magic in battle because so much was riding upon the woman's health.

Loke's voice cut through all the ruckus as the Lion Spirit shouted, "This group is here to help. They're going to try and save our Princess, Majesty!"

The Celestial Spirit King whipped his head in the direction of the screamed announcement. Before Laxus could get an inkling of what was coming, a fur wearing cave woman with a massive club like weapon was dropping onto the chains, arms outstretched as bizarre sounds flowed from her lips. A second later, the heavy musk of an unwashed body struck Laxus' nose and made it twitch. Brilliant light almost as iridescent as Lucy's soul exploded from the woman's body as a subtle music tickled Laxus' ears.

The Spirit King gasped. "How can the Sacred Saint even be here, Loke?"

Seems a few of the warriors we believed dead when we called upon the Phoenix actually survived the direct attack of the Abyss Lord thousands of years ago. Winhermeare, RoMordian, Meluzinia, and even She Wolf with her multiple Soul Bonds are still alive. Vraylinish has already ordered the Bane Elites to be freed from their time suspension spheres and brought through the gate Nadhasti was coerced into opening. Seems Vraylinish made extra preparations to counter Skuhldra's bad habits if she overwhelmed Zayden's light. The order of opening was changed around so Nadhasti could only open Vraylinish's sphere first."

The flat and emotionless voice of Virgo caught Laxus' attention. "Vraylinish was always very cunning in her dealings with the Royal Sheemastra Fairies. Her caution is paying off yet again."

The drag upon Lucy's soul collapsed as tingling yet oppressive power drove Laxus, Gajeel, and almost all the Celestial Spirits to their knees. Spots flashed before Laxus eyes as he tried to get air into pressure compressed lungs.

As the pressure began to subside, Laxus forced his head up to see the cave woman had been joined by another one. The new woman was taller and had reddish skin with twig and straw matted hair of an indeterminate color. The musk of unwashed bodies and poorly tanned hides increased considerably to offend Laxus sensitive nose. However it was what he saw that most upset Laxus about these new comers.

Stars within their constellations gleamed and whirled around the two women as if they were the center of the universe. Around several of the flowing stars within each constellation that whirled in and out of Laxus sight, planets revolved in a stately dance of many colors and sizes. Each pass overhead of the constellations with all their planets and stars conjoined as they flashed overhead making Laxus dizzy with a mild touch of motion sickness.

Power from the rapidly expanding image hit the ground with the force of finger joint sized hail stones. The black hole was gone, but the replacement power was a force that made it difficult to regain his feet. Luckily, Laxus had been able to roll to the side as they went down, so Lucy was draped across his chest. Concerned the power would do additional harm, Laxus twisted to the side and sat up with Lucy held against his chest as he shielded her form the energy.

"I'd forgotten just how powerful Galaxy Storm really is when it's manifested. Shit but that hurts!" One of Lucy's male spirits complained as his long segmented tail twitched.

"I've not used Galaxy Storm in several millennia so that isn't all that surprising, Scorpio."

Loke's familiar voice caught Laxus' attention. "Why the fuck does my gut say that we're dealing in people who often overdo everything? The Sacred Saint said she was to use Star Storm, not Galaxy Storm."

"You had to dig deep into the mixed up memories to recall the language didn't you, Loke?" The goat headed Spirit asked.

"Do you really have to ask such a stupid question, Capricorn? Of course I had to dig into the broken remains of all the souls that form me so I'd understand what was going on when Nadhasti opened the fucking gate. Hope Natsu's okay because he got nailed with some spell that Bane Warriors cast before exiting." The Lion did not look well as Laxus twisted to see Loke better. The man had his head in his hands as he sat on the ground.

The shorter of the cave pair was speaking in guttural tones interspersed with sibilant hisses. The pair had divided up the chains which were now locked within their arms, and shimmering with the glitter of white gold. Laxus saw the ball he recognized as being how the maimed dragon spoke float in front of the pair. The shorter of the pair spoke again. The red skinned female had a chain in each hand, while the smaller cave woman held the thickest through thinnest of the remaining chains. The dragon's telepathic voice responded in an unknown language. A much larger energy ball slid higher above everyone struggling to get back on their feet.

The next words the strange cave woman said morphed into understandable words. "Nadhasti, healers awakened yet?"

"I'm working as fast as I can since Winhermeare knocked Skuhldra out. Although, I can't complain about being back in charge of my own mind, it does cut my power a fair amount until I readjust."

"Winhermeare can help you since we got the chains stabilized. If possible bring out Braydon's Soul Bonded group first. They are the best at life soul magic. The young woman is stuck with a large number of chains, so she's probably a Fey. I can't imagine any pure humans with the kind of astral strength required to handle five full, plus a spliced, hermetic seal chain. Power drain would knock many Soul Bonded pairs of pure Fairies on their asses."

"Perhaps she has as many Soul Bonds as our She Wolf?" The ruddy skinned woman spoke while handing over her two chains.

The Spirit King answered. "Soul Bonding has been lost for several thousand years. It died out when the Fey became more human than immortal and lost the capability to shape their souls. Lucy Heartfilia is a very strong human who has enough love within herself to overcome the expected drain. Her capacity for love actively makes her energy painful for the Abyss Lord which forces him away from the seals that her life feeds, Saint Vraylinish."

The shorter woman shrugged. "Do you actually recognize me, or are you as confused as Reagaltiel, Kainon?"

"Seems that I must give you sorrowful tidings, Vraylinish. Reagaltiel's last day of life is the only easily accessed memories for our Celestial Spirit Leo. Although Leo looks somewhat like Reagaltiel, he is many half destroyed souls that the Phoenix stuck together into a new spirit. It took many centuries for Leo to become a true individual with his own personality and sense of self after the chains were established. The Phoenix chose Reagaltiel's face because he was the most powerful Star Singer for the Leo Temple, and best understood how to chain the Abyss Lord. Reagaltiel was hit with the full brunt of the Phoenix's true power and was overwhelmed by the unlimited power before the rest of us finished ascending to help with shared shielding."

"By the thrice blasted world tree! Why did the man have to do something so reckless and break his promise to survive and return?"

Loke's choked off snort had Laxus looking over at the orange haired man. The man's face was pasty pale and he was sweating. Shaking his head several times, Loke closed his eyes. In a soft voice, Loke answered, "One of the few clear images of the last Abyss Lord fight involves a complete arm with chunks of the shoulder blade intact falling several paces in front of one of my stronger soul shard's positions. The arm was recognized as their loved one's. The insane amount of damage was very bad. The still flailing amputation included a very elaborate tattoo of a Fairy that had twisted and broken wings. The image remains quite haunting because that shard had such a strong and strange reaction to the sight. The mate was gone so nothing was left to lose was the main emotion and thought involved with that piece of the nightmare I've had since I became aware of existing, Sacred Saint. I'm aware of who several of you are due to digging into many different race memories that have survived, but I'm only Leo, the Lion, not the actual person you once knew."

"Blood of the damned! Reagaltiel saw my ripped off arm that took several moons for the healers to recreate?"

Loke nodded at her questioning tone.

"Even I thought I was dead when Sertatsie and I got hit with the brunt of that attack. It shredded both of us bad enough to end our fighting for some time. Tragic that he died, and yet Reagaltiel was always a very strong willed man determined to save those who could not care for their selves. He did save this world, so I cannot truly fault his actions."

From the corner of his eye, Laxus saw several short people running over as the woman that the Spirits were calling Sacred Saint stared forlornly at the ground. Laxus could not help but feel sad for the woman who thought she had found her long lost love before the Spirits crushed her dreams. A shudder slid down Laxus spine as he cuddled Lucy's unmoving, gold power encased shell. Was the same going to happen to Lucy? Would she lose her life, and become nothing but fragmented memories such as Loke had described?

The three stopped in front of him, looking at the number of chains attached. Gesturing for him to loosen his hold, the trio of winged Fairies seemed like they wanted to take Lucy. Dragon Instinct rose to the fore and Laxus unleashed a chest deep, threatening rumble.

"Are you like Flint? Is this your chosen then?" The tallest of the three asked in a bird like, exotic lilting twitter that the sphere above seemed to be translating into understandable words.

Sertatsie's orb shimmered and shifted in colors. "Dragon Masters are no more. This male is a new type of Dragon Slayer created by humans without the aide of us dragons."

A hum from the three greeted the news as Laxus narrowed his eyes and glared at the unwelcome sight of more trouble makers. If they were anything like the last pair, Laxus was not going to let them anywhere near was a shock when he heard Loke's voice.

"My core memories recall you three. Braydon, Embradia, and Kendren are your names if I'm not mixing up memories."

The male tilted his head toward the Spirit. "You are correct. We had little contact with Reagaltiel though so it is a surprise that we are recalled."

The Sacred Saint spoke quickly. "Leo is not Reagaltiel. It seems that my Bonded died, and this Celestial Spirit was created by the Phoenix from salvaged pieces of many who died when Tenru was reduced to an island."

"Not sure who's memories happen to know these three, but they're all safe, Lightning Rod. They were always trying to protect the other races from their crueller Fairy kinsmen. They always believed that true peace could only come when all races stopped thinking they were better than the others. I doubt they would ever think to harm Lucy, or anyone here."

Laxus released the breath he had not realized he had been holding. His arms relaxed enough to let Lucy slip into a prone position across his lap, head resting on his forearm. The trio set to work immediately. The male and two females were quick to break apart the time suspension magic.

Lucy gasped for air and gagged when she could not breathe as her dangerous illness reasserted itself. Shudders wracked her frame, almost jerking herself out of Laxus hold. The trio worked fast to get the fracture line sporting soul back inside Lucy's body. As the iridescent, silvery white glowing sphere descended back into Lucy's chest, the woman began to breathe a little easier.

"Vraylinish, we have a difficulty in healing this woman's soul. To keep her soul from shattering, we must use Soul Bond so another can lend her their strength as her soul has no strength left. She will shatter if she must endure feeding the seals, or unlock the chains to move the non bloodline chains. Something else is embedded in her soul that we cannot tamper with until her soul is stronger."

The Sacred Saint responded, "Then we must find appropriate beings who are willing to share their strength with her." Raising her head and taking a deep breath, Vraylinish bellowed, "Who here is willing to share their life force and strength with the young woman you were fighting to preserve earlier? Without the Soul Bond she has no chance of survival."

Almost before their leader was done speaking, Laxus grabbed the middle female who was focused on pouring a cool blue green energy into Lucy's stomach. "What do I need to do to save Blondie?"

Without warning, Natsu was screaming, "Where's Luce? Is she okay?"

The trio looked at Laxus as he ignored Natsu's shrieks and bellows. The one male and the female on the opposite side of the middle female touched the opposite sides of his chest and Lucy's at the same time. Heat as sharp as any bolt of lightning flowed into his body and coiled around what felt like his heart and spine. For a moment Laxus could not breathe and had a moment of true terror that they were going to kill him. The coiling, tingling power seemed to reverse, a minor tearing sensation that shifted into a feeling of being tugged toward Lucy followed. Dizziness washed through Laxus system as he felt as if he was reduced to a boneless state. His body went numb, head spinning so much that Laxus slipped into unconsciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Special thanks going out to Wise Old Owl for the ongoing reviews you've sent. Glad you awaited my return when the real world forced me to disappear for so very long. Get well soon. Thanks to everyone else following this story also. It gives me reason to continue working on this unusual project. Reviews are always much appreciated, including constructive varieties. :) I do not own Fairy Tail, but I'm glad Hiro Mashima created this little universe within which my plot bunnies can rampage o their hearts' desires. I'm glad my adult kids demanded I watch this series. ROFL. Hope everyone enjoys this newest weirdness of a chapter.

CHAPTER 7

"Master, we decided to pay Lucy's membership fees this month since she's injured." Erza spoke with Gray shifting from one foot to the other beside her.

Makarov took the clearly marked envelopes she offered. "You're both good friends to do this for Lucy."

"Are they really going to be okay, Gramps? I mean, we know Flame Brain will be back to doing missions the day after he wakes up, . . . unless he never wakes up. But, Lucy's different. She got really badly hurt this time. I'm kind of scared that she won't be able to use any magic after what those bastards did to her." Gray snarled, eyes shooting a resentful glare toward the ground floor's occupants.

Sick of hearing the same complaints and questions, Makarov stood on the banister and bellowed for everyone's attention. "Listen up, Brats! Wendy says our guild mates are stable this morning and are okay even though they're going to continue sleeping. Lucy is getting stronger and starting to stabilize because of the energy Natsu and Laxus are sharing with her. None of them are in any danger that Wendy can sense. Porlyusica is in agreement with Wendy that they are fine. As I've stated repeatedly for two days now, both volunteered to be part of this unknown healing spell to save our Celestial Spirit Mage's life. We've been told the possible outcomes by our guests. They've told us that only those three can decide how strong, or weak this Soul Binding spell will be once they awaken. Don't make me repeat myself any more today! For those of you who are still angry over Laxus and Natsu making the same decision, the only ones you should be mad at are them. Stop glaring at the Ancients because they performed the spell to save Lucy's life. Being afraid of their unknown magic is no excuse for being rude."

With utmost grace, Vraylinish, the scarred leader of the Bane Warriors, dropped onto the second story floor beside Macarov. She landed with an almost silent footfall despite having leapt from the ground floor. Considering her previous poorly tanned hides from before her clean up and make over, Makarov could scarce believe he was dealing with the same woman. Her matted hair had been washed and combed until it glowed. Her hair was a medium warm umber mixed with golden honey highlights cascading halfway down Vraylinish's back. All the ancients had opted to wear serviceable clothing instead of seeking to make fashion statements. The earth hued work pants and sturdy button up shirt that Vraylinish wore allowed for full range of motion without restriction. Without the grime coating she had worn before, Vraylinish's skin was borderline alabaster white.

As was her custom, Vraylinish's arms were instantly pinioned behind her back, hands gripping opposite forearms as if she were tied up. Loke had explained the custom as meaning no hostile intent was involved, so Makarov mirrored the gesture to reassure the woman that everything was fine. Both nodded before Makarov returned to lecturing his brats.

"Everyone heard Natsu demand that the Fairies perform the spell to strengthen Lucy's soul upon him. All this guild's members know that Natsu ignored all objections due to not being familiar with such an ancient magic. Some of us were present to hear him insist that he would do anything to save Lucy. Even if we didn't hear Laxus give his consent, I know my grandson was the first to fight for Lucy when that void spell attacked her. Like it or not, Laxus did make the choice to help Lucy recover. It's time for all of you to honor his choice and stop acting like immature idiots."

Bickslow's fists hit the table as he leapt up, overturning his chair. "Flame Brain's got nothing but hot air between his ears so we expect him to do stupid things. Laxus-sama isn't like Natsu! We're his team and we don't like knowing that Laxus-sama's been magically chained to that weak little cheerleader! Why would Laxus-sama volunteer to be some kind of life support system for Cosplayer? None of their lies fit the man we know better than the rest of you. Laxus-sama wouldn't agree to do something irreversible! They must've lied to him because we know he wouldn't agree to get stuck for life to someone so weak!"

"Kendren was there when he asked what he needed to do to save the one he calls Blondie. To insure there was no foul play involved, I've double checked all their memories, and their memories are in agreement. Your Laxus did demand a way to save your Star Singer's life. He has a compatible life force, so they used Soul Binding magic. I've already given them their punishment for not informing your friends of all levels of possible change that can occur with any level of Soul Binding magic. We did not know the knowledge of our magic has been lost when we arrived, so fault lies with both sides." Vraylinish responded before Makarov found his voice.

"Fuck you and your excuses, Bitch! As weak as Cosplayer is, Laxus could die because of her! If he does, it's your fucking fault! I haven't seen you do anything that could be considered punishment either!"

To prevent the Seith mage from launching his babies at Vraylinish, Makarov was quick to speak up. "Bickslow, sit down and listen for once. Vraylinish has a valid point. None of them knew that their ancient magic was lost to us. They worked from a faulty assumption when they cast the spell, but it was never malicious. All the Ancients who are here right now are finding our world as overwhelming as we find their Centaurs and Fairies. As to punishment, I believe Vraylinish has settled on what it is, and will execute it when the time is right. I've met many honorable people to ever accuse her of lying because she won't."

"No punishment can undo what those fuckers did to Laxus-sama!" Bickslow roared as he glared at Vraylinish, hands fisted at his sides.

"You speak truth, Bickslow. Your Master also speaks truth. I have accepted responsibility for my people's wrong and have done what must be done to remind my warriors and healers that they must explain things from now on. We cannot undo what has been done, but you're leader will be far stronger in the weeks to come. As each chain that does not belong to your Star Singer gets placed with the correct bloodline, her powers will grow at an alarming rate. Is the rate of power growth we will have to monitor to insure all of your comrades' safety as we undo the mess."

Freed grabbed Bickslow's arm and silenced him with a glare. "What do you mean when you say that Laxus-sama is going to get far stronger over the next few weeks?"

"You are not familiar with astral or veil chain magic, but we know both intimately. The chains everyone saw during the attack have the job of draining magic from the person that they are attached to. The chains transfer the power taken away from the person who has such astral chains that are not normally seen. In the case of your Lucy, the chains feed a magic that must be maintained so that the demon remains trapped no matter how long it struggles to break free. Each bit of damage the demon does to the trap has to be repaired. It takes much raw power to fix every bit of harm to demon does to the cage and chains that keep it immobile."

"So you're saying that if you remove those untouchable chains from Lucy, she'll become more powerful, correct?" Freed asked with a very calculating look on his face.

"Yes. As your Lucy is freed from each Astral Chain not of her bloodline, her power will automatically increase. The Binding magic will balance the excess power between her body and both men who are sharing their life force with her. As you know, when you run out of magic, you must rest for the power to recover. The same will happen with Lucy despite the damage that was done to her soul core. The difference is that nothing will be draining that power away from her with each chain we move. The amount of drain she has experienced during her life will determine the amount of power she will create. The Soul Bond will activate to make all three equal in power."

Freed propped his chin between forefinger and thumb as he slowly worked through the information. "For the weaker people involved, an unfair power up happens that exceeds their normal magical abilities. The same magic leaches magic from the stronger members to creat the power up for the weaker parties. Correct?"

"Yes. It also protects those who have very powerful and unstable magic power from dying when people of similar soul songs are bound to each other through a piece of their soul being exchanged. Astral Chains such unbelievable power from the one tied to the cage, so we have reason to be worried that Lucy's magic will be difficult to curb once the chains are removed."

"My biggest problem with this is knowing that Laxus-sama will be trapped with Natsu and Lucy for the rest of his life. You even warned us that they might lose parts of their normal personalities because of the spell cast on them. Yet you're claiming that Laxus-sama will get stronger. How can you be so certain?"

"It is hard to explain without demonstrating Veil Chain, the weak form of the Astral Chain spell which we use to drain excess magic that threatens our lives as Fey. Unlike Soul Binding magic, or Astral Chain magic, Veil Chain can be banished completely at will. Still, it does drain away magic power constantly, so would let you feel how the reverse works once magic is no longer bled off. To see how things will change, and why your Lucy is terrifying to us would require you to trust long enough to experience Veil Chains for yourself."

Evergreen snapped her closed fan on the table. "Do you think we'd actually risk getting incapacitated after seeing our Leader put into a coma in our infirmary? What kind of fools do you take us for?"

Makarov knew Vraylinish was trying to ease everyone's minds, but it was not working because of the Thunder God Tribe's vehemence. "Everyone, that's enough arguing for today! Trust Laxus' safety and recovery to Wendy's, and Porlyusica's capable hands. If anything goes wrong, they will be the first to alert us. Go on missions to blow some excess steam instead of sitting around being angry about what has happened. If anything does go wrong, I'll have Warren contact anyone who desires to know about it right away. Everyone needs to get back to work. Moping isn't going to wake them up any faster. Stop looking for excuses to cause trouble for our guests, Brats. His Majesty is coming here to straighten this mess out. I won't have anyone here who isn't willing to behave when our King arrives! Dismissed."

As Makarov settled back onto the bannister rail, he retrieved his precariously balanced beer mug. Vraylinish tilted her head at an angle. Figuring she had something to discuss, the guild Master swept a hand to the railing and patted it in an offer to join him. The long limbed, muscular woman balanced on the balls of her feet while hunkering down beside him a second later.

Erza spoke with a sketchy bow before the woman could begin talking. "Master, we'll take a mission as you suggest. Lucy can't pay her rent since she's in the infirmary, and we don't know how long she's going to be unconscious. Taking a mission will let us help her keep her apartment at least." With those words, she grabbed Gray's arm and hauled him toward the mission board.

Gray protested, "Can we really leave with things like this? I mean, they're our teammates . . ."

"Where will Lucy stay if she loses her apartment, Gray? We all spend a lot of time at Lucy's apartment. It's our team's second home. We won't let our teammate down when Lucy is in the most need of our help. We're taking a new mission, and trusting that Warren will contact us if we are needed."

"Half the reason Lucy's always short on money is because Ash Breath eats all of her food. The only reason Luce's always short on rent is because of his stomach." Gray shot back in a voice loud enough to capture the whole guild's attention.

"Once Natsu wakes up he'll do an extra mission to compensate for his eating habits as always. We all know he eats the most. Having to buy so much food every day makes it hard for Lucy to pay her rent but we also tend to eat at her place. We're all guilty of making things difficult for Lucy." Erza responded in her loudest monotone.

Gray snorted but said no more as they began to look for a mission. It did not surprise Makarov that Erza was the most aware of the hardships they caused Lucy, or that she was enforcing a compensation system. Everyone attached to the guild as familiar with Lucy's bitter complaints about Natsu's bottomless stomach, and ill mannered ways. Several of Natsu's quirks drove Lucy insane. However, breaking and entering seemed to be a collective bad habit of all her team mates, not just Natsu.

At one point Mirajane suggested that Lucy eat exclusively at the guild until Natsu stopped raiding her cupboards as a means of saving money for her rent each month. It had not taken long for Lucy's guilt to set in because of Natsu's compliment about how he enjoyed her cooking. Guilt and embarrassment had won over Lucy who returned to the original pattern of buying food she could not afford to try and satisfy Natsu's bottomless appetite.

Life had never felt so unreal to Makarov as it did while watching half of Team Natsu stomp over to Mirajane for their approval stamp on the job Erza had chosen. The Ancients' awakening had thrown the Guild into unprecedented levels of chaos. Makarov watched all of his children who decided to obey his order to take missions shuffling downstairs. Several of his children continued shooting furtive glances at their guests as their collective anger continued to simmer. Their worry and fear remained a palpable thing.

A silent prayer for Natsu, Lucy and Laxus to awaken soon flashed through Makarov's mind as he took a healthy swig from his mug. It was not as if Makarov could blame his children for their reactions over three of their family members being trapped within an unknown spell. Even Makarov found it nerve wracking that his grandson, and most cherished Celestial Spirit Mage were absent. He even missed Natsu's reckless challenges, and constant fights between the hot headed Slayer and the Ice Make Mage. The only positive to the quiet was that Makarov did not have to order new benches and tables to be delivered early each morning, or help Mirajane and Elfman remove broken furniture before locking up each night.

Vraylinish broke Makarov from his thoughts. "Speaking of work, my people are getting very restless. We have been eating much of your food stores because we were so drained when we left the time stopping realm. We will gladly hunt and replace your meat if you will direct us to the closest hunting grounds. It would balance things faster between my people and your's I believe."

"Hunting for survival is not normal these days, Vraylinish. We get all of our food from the grocers here in town. The guild can manage to pay for your meal expenses a little longer. In fact, His Majesty, and Sabertooth's Celestial Spirit Mage should be arriving today. We'll be able to sort everything out after they arrive." Makarov spoke in a soothing voice.

"We do not understand your ways, so it is hard for us to feel comfortable. Why is it not everyone's duty to find food so that all may survive? You use words that do not translate for us also. Because we do not know how to be, it makes us all uneasy."

"I'll try to explain how Fairy Tail works. As I am the Guild Master, all the members pay a monthly membership fee to me which goes toward all the things needed to run the guild smoothly, including my salary to run the guild. Every job on that board over there has a listing fee that comes directly to this guild from every client who contracts our aide. The listing fee only gets paid if the mission is accepted. The various fees cover food and booze purchases for the guild members to have when they're here. Of course they have to reimburse the guild for their food and booze out of their earnings to insure the guild can pay Mirajane her wages for being the bar keeper and cook."

"So how does this make our getting fed and clothed work?"

"Feeding and clothing your warriors for a couple weeks will be a little more expensive than usual for a couple weeks, but don't worry about it. We'll get everything resolved so your people can begin earning your upkeep. Once my Brats wake up, and the guild members see that they're fine, the fear and anger will vanish overnight. Unless the King forbids it, I'll assign on of your people to one of our friendlier guild members who knows the system. In time you'll all master reading, writing, mathematics and how to handle finances so you can do your own missions without a mentor. I asked Levi to start teaching your people the basics so you can adjust to this era easier. For the moment, your warriors are trapped here until His Majesty arrives and makes a decision about handling this Abyss Lord problem."

"I still do not understand several words you used. What does purchase mean?"

Makarov sighed. "It is where you give someone a set amount of jewels, our specific money system, for a specific item that you want to own. Purchase and buy mean almost the same thing, Vraylinish."

"You have mentioned jewels before, yet I cannot understand how the small patterned rocks and painted strips that your Levi showed us work in this world." Vraylinish's mouth quirked at a sour angle as her eyebrows plunged toward her nose bridge.

"Jewels replaced the barter system so I guess it can't be helped that it's confusing, Vraylinish. Not everyone had the right things to exchange with each other so jewels, or money as it is also called, got invented to make sure everyone could get things they really needed or wanted no matter their specific skills." Makarov explained.

Loke popped into the space beside them. "What Master Makarov is trying to explain is that money systems replaced bartering for goods to make all types of trades hassle free. Barter was normal during your lifetime, but it made life more difficult for some people. Money systems or finance as it is also called, improved life for everyone because they don't have to do multiple trades to get the things that they actually need."

Vraylinish nodded as her expression shifted to thoughtful. "Some times when we killed a demon, we would be given important things like well napped arrows and knives, or even food. It was the people's way of thanking us."

"You're starting to get the idea. However, jewels ended the problem of unfair swaps happening because everyone agrees on what an item's value is even before it gets to a store, Vraylinish-sama. All forms of work, or the making of items have a set rate of value attached based upon common agreements that are centuries old now. Jewels have set values that rarely change so everyone gets paid the jewel value for all forms of work they do. A set price, or value for every type of work has been established so that everyone can do what they are talented at without having to worry about starving or not having shelter so long as they are working. The more dangerous the work involved, the more value that work is given. With Magic Guilds, the bulk of the work is valued much higher than safer work like making clothing, or taking care of crops to feed everyone else. Magic is not something that everyone can do, so the value of mage work remains much higher than hands on work most of the time."

"Hm, so in a way, these jewels express the different types of a good stone napper's work as an example. A blade would be the same value as one type of jewel while an arrowhead would have the same value, or importance as a different looking jewel in this comparison" Loke nodded with a grin.

"Think I'm beginning to understand this new way a little bit. Given time, we will all learn acceptance I suppose. Yet, Makarov, your talk about this guild does not explain how we are to give value to the things your people have done for us so far. These strange clothes and the food have been given, but we have not done anything to give them proper value in return if I am learning how this money system works."

"Thank you for your explanation, Loke. And, Vraylinish, your people have done all you can to save Lucy's life. As I understand everything, you and your warriors blocked a very powerful demon from escaping it's prison and attacking this nation. So in this case, your people have already earned all the food, clothing, and other items you've been given. My brats will come around and stop being afraid once Lucy and the boys wake up. Right now their fears are in control because they don't understand your magic any more than your people understand how money works."

"Vraylinish-sama, I hate to cut this lesson short, but several of your warriors are giving shifty looks to their weapons piled up as you ordered." Loke interrupted.

"Bane Warriors are not used to be stuck inside man made caves you call buildings. I need to find a way to take them outdoors where they can move around very soon or risk losing control over them. None of us sit for long. To remain in the company of those who we feel resentment from is a problem. False kindness is never safe to our kind."

Loke placed a hand on Makarov's shoulder to draw his full attention. "She's telling the truth, Master. Fey children grew up getting brutalized by all the pure blood races. The Fairies would rip apart their wings to cripple them if they were allowed to live at all. If they escaped the Fairies' slavery, humans and other races would go out of their way to kill them on sight. The Twenty Elites are all Hybrids who have become hard wired to be paranoid. We need to find something for them to do that will help them calm down. Learning to read and write isn't working because it lacks enough physical action to ease the adrenaline rushes from hearing angry voices up here."

"Levi and the others who are willing to help have all said you don't have any knowledge of any of our magic. Perhaps we can exchange knowledge to ease your people's fear of us. It allows us to be outdoors in the honor's ring at least."

Makarov lifted his hand to silence the woman. "What is an Honor's Ring?"

"An Honor's Ring is a place that traps magic inside of a large rock lined ring made to hold in all power that gets used during combats to regain one's honor. The magic cannot escape the ring stones so it won't cause damage outside of the ring."

"Can such an honor ring be used to train magic also?" Makarov asked as excitement rose within his breast.

"Yes, of course. We all teach and learn from each other inside the honor ring. It is difficult to create trust unless both sides share something as proof that good will is the truth of actions on both sides." Vraylinish answered, looking troubled as she watched her people shuffle and fidget on the ground floor.

Levi looked up at them and motioned for them to come over. Although Levi was worried about Lucy, her curiosity made her the perfect spy and liaison for Makarov's purposes. The Solid Script Mage was one of the most tolerant Fairy Tail members. Convincing her to help the feral mages who lacked any knowledge of the modern world had been easy once Makarov explained his plans. Levi learned language quickly, and was already figuring out their simpler words. Medium sized magic balls were set upon various tables to translate everything between the ancient and modern tongues spoken on the ground floor. However, Makarov wanted several Fairy Tail mages fluent in the ancient language for times when translation lacrimas were not available.

Every report Levi turned in before going home at night gave greater insight into the Ancients culture. Most of the culture was quite shocking to be certain, yet Makarov recognized that they had lived outdoors, using smelly hides as shelters, or finding caves during the winter. They only new how to hunt wildlife for their food, and clothing. Their lack of any form of luxury during their lives explained plenty about their barbaric ways.

Dropping onto the ground floor Makarov spoke again to Vraylinish as they walked to the corner of the guild where her forty five members waited. "Wendy told me that she's learning a number of interesting new ways to heal people from Braydon and his group."

"It is their punishment. The teaching will continue so that one of yours will be well versed in saving lives to balance their lack of telling your grandson what they needed to do to help your Lucy become a less painful wrong. The three will never be the same again. Even if they agree to keep very separate inner territories, some days will blend their thoughts more than others. Some days will make them resonate as one being because of one being ill, or tired. It cannot be changed now that soul shards have been exchanged between the three. Please stand here, and I will return in a moment."

Makarov nodded at Vraylinish as she headed toward her people. Hopping onto the bar, Makarov placed his empty mug beside him. Mirajane filled it from the large pitcher she had in her hands.

"Master, you know that we all think the Fairies are deranged because they used a magic necessary for them to breed as a way to save Lucy's life. Don't you?"

With a heavy sigh, Makarov yanked his hat off his head and rubbed his balding skull. "The list of possible side effect that our three will have to deal with boggles my mind too, Mira. All we can do right now is pray that no major damage happened once my grandson and his new companions wake up from that kind of magic. The one thing I do know is that Vraylinish's healers were trying to save lives with their Soul Binding spell. Even without saying it outright, I believe Braydon and his group were in a state of panic, so they used the one spell that has the highest success rate, no matter the ongoing consequences."

"Until such time as they harmonize their life force, and decide their relationship roles, they can't wake up according to Loke. What if Natsu and Laxus can't agree to get along with each other so they stay trapped in that magical sleep until they all die?"

"Mira, have some faith in those two. They'll find a working balance between them even if they are both Dragon Slayers. Lucy's soul recovery will also play a part in when they'll all get up and start talking again. Wendy is monitoring them even as we speak. She'll find a way to help those two wake up in time. Be patient, and have faith. Laxus and Natsu will find the best solution since they di this to save Lucy. She'll keep them in line if all else fails."

A smirk grew on Mirajane's face as she nodded and headed toward the stairs to refill glasses.

Chaffing as the young woman ascended the stairs, Makarov stared at his drink. Despite how confident he sounded, he was not so sure the trio would be fine after Lucy stabilized because of the nature of the spell used, and known Dragon Slayer habits. Centuries of ever expanding lore about territorial instincts dominated Dragon Slayer lore. Spouses were always their Slayers most prized treasure, and were zealously guarded. If the Fairies' Soul Binding spell triggered instincts that made Lucy into their spouse, stopping Natsu and Laxus from killing each other to stake their territorial claim would be impossible.

The Fairies had assured everyone that Laxus and Natsu would be unable to seriously hurt each other because of the spell's nature. Yet Makarov was anything but convinced that the ancients understood how dangerous Dragon Slayer instincts became when activated. Laxus might only have an embedded lacrima, but he had been overcome by several Alpha draconic instincts over the years. Time had helped Makarov recognize the attempt to take over the Guild as one such instance where Laxus had lost control over the Alpha instincts from his lacrima. Worst of all was how Natsu lived on similar instincts as his constant need to fight with stronger guild members demonstrated.

Lucy was trapped between the two Dragon Slayers who had the worst love hate relationship within the whole guild. Natsu respected Laxus' strength, but was constantly challenging him to fights due to his instinctual need to get stronger, or take over the Alpha position. Laxus, on the other hand, had arrogance issues, and was quick to anger. Natsu's compulsiveness infuriated Laxus as no other Slayer ever could. Makarov had long suspected his grandson had an interest in Lucy upon which he refused to act before her life was on the line. On the other hand, Natsu was always draping himself on Lucy and calling her his best friend, but acting out borderline boyfriend behaviors. As things stood, Natsu practically lived with Lucy no matter how loud or violent her protests for personal space.

Dragon Slayers were anything but normal people. Yet to make things even more dicey, the Fairies who sought to heal Lucy through the unconventional spell added an all new nightmare to the mix. The group that linked the souls of Natsu, and Laxus to Lucy's said that they believed Natsu had traces of awakened Fairy blood. With Lucy trapped between the two Dragon Slayers, both with extremely territorial personalities, Makarov dreaded facing the insanity when the three did rouse from their catatonic state.

Although many humans dreamed about finding their soul mates, this spell took things much too far. In fact, as far as Makarov was concerned, it took away all the joy and adventure of finding and being with your perfect partner for life. Fairies lacked any sense of adventure or human morality, so did not understand how Soul Binding magic could be viewed as cruel in this instance. The healers had chipped off pieces of three individual souls and literally glued the pieces into the other souls through a magical swapping process.

One side effect described with indifferent voices would make Laxus, Lucy, and Natsu miserable once they were aware that their thoughts and feelings were no longer private. All their painful past experiences would be the property of the others involved no matter what they wanted. Soul Binding destroyed any chance of secrets unless all had iron wills to remain separate people which from Vraylinish's comments about bad days seemed unlikely. The spell even lead to erosion of individuality over time. To lose one's autonomy, and be forced to cope with eroding personalities would make anyone who enjoyed their independence resent Soul Binding.

Then again, the Ancients meddling was all for the purpose of moving the chains Lucy endured to other people. Makarov doubted that these hard hearted beings of diverse races actually gave a damn about the individuals involved. Makarov shuddered as he stared at the winged ones who were so extreme by comparison to other races, including the Centaurs. Fairies were the stuff of dying legends, and hybrids were all but unheard of before they were thrust into everyone's faces. They were odd looking strangers, and nobody from the guild quite knew how to react to them.

With the added strain of three members being in magic induced comas caused by a spell that had never been heard of before, Makarov could only hope the Fiore King would make arrangements to safeguard Fairy Tail and the Ancients so nobody would be harmed further.

Vraylinish and Loke caught his attention. With a rapid blinking motion, Makarov focused on the pair. Loke spoke, "RoMordian and the other Centaurs are sensing over thirty incoming magical powers that don't match anyone in the guild who left on missions. Centaur sensitivity at feeling magic ability from a distance is the best in the world, so I'm thinking King Fiore and his personal guard have probably arrived."

"One would hope it is your true leader, but they also noticed the powers coming from two different directions. Some may be enemies of your King." Vraylinish added as her head remained cocked to the side to monitor her warriors. The twenty Bane Elites had begun to form a defensive ring around the sixteen Star Singers. The Fairies leapt in the air and began to hover in place.

Mirajane leaned over the upstairs banister rail and called down, "Master, what's going on with them now?"

More heads looked over the railing as Loke stepped back to be seen and explained. "The Centaurs have noticed around thirty very strong magical signatures heading this way. Since they have memorized the guild's magical signatures, they already know these signatures are strangers. Seems the thirty are coming from two different directions they're taking up defensive positions to protect the Star Singers if these aren't friendly visitors."

"Are you serious?" Wakaba demanded as he hung over the rail.

"Centaurs were always the most sensitive of all magical creatures to magical vessels. They can feel the vibrations from amazing distances, and even smell differences in all types of magic when they get close enough." Loke answered.

Makarov heaved himself onto his feet and began snapping orders. "It's King Fiore's entourage, so everyone help get this guild cleaned up. We need to make a good impression when the Royal Family arrives."

All the Guild cheered and began racing to pick up any trash, and tidy up their home.

~~oo0oo~~


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: My sincerest thanks to everyone who has favorited, or started following this story. Additional thanks to those who have given me reviews. Sorry I've not had time to PM each of you for the time you took to review this story. You're encouragement makes me look harder to cram extra writing time into my schedule. :) ***Ambush is the name I picked to distinguish Fey groups from human tribes.*** 2 different POV's divided by ==oo0oo== symbol.

CHAPTER 8

Metalicana looked down at his adopted son who was sulking between his forelegs. Gajeel was leveling his rankest stink eye at Sertatsie and Winhermeare. Among the highest ranked Bane Warriors to have left time suspension, Winhermeare was the last Fey Metalicana expected to act as Sertatsie's care giver for the day. However, Winhermeare arrived with a large platter heaped high with raw meat cut into small chunks. The woman had completed her task of hand feeding the chopped meat to Sertatsie, who swallowed without chewing.

A few minutes after Winhermeare set the large platter on the ground, Gajeel stood up, and without additional warning, exploded. "So let me see if I got everything I've heard so far straight? Your group thinks Bunny Girl's super powerful, is that right?"

Sertatsie nodded, her thought orb shimmering with the full spectrum of colors as Gajeel's hand lifted to ward off any commentary. "I got the impression that your group also thinks Bunny Girl's going to have so much more power after you guys remove those chains, she'll die if you didn't curse two Dragon Slayers to be stuck to her for the rest of their lives. So your little fucking Fairy pals cursed two Slayers without even explaining anything because they think they have the right to tell others how to live. Did I leave anything out?"

Sertatsie's telepathic orb flashed. The hues and the voice blared her miffed state. "Neither Braydon, nor his bonded mates knew about Fairy magic being lost to antiquity when your Lightning Slayer asked how he could save the girl's life. They recognized a harmonious life force that could mesh with hers, so did what they felt would save the girl's life. It was more important to block the Abyss Lord's escape than waste time explaining all the possibilities at that moment. Stopping the Abyss Void from corrupting the Astral Star Chains took priority even if the pair bound to the Singer are less than ideal in hind sight."

Gajeel growled deep in his chest before unleashing more vitriol. "How the fuck could anyone get the boneheaded idea that cursing anyone, much less Dragon Slayers, was the best way to save Bunny Girl's life? None of you know anything about us so you should'a asked questions before pulling such a stupid stunt!"

The Fey woman, Winhermeare held the translation lacrima in her lap as she let Gajeel's furious words get translated. She spoke in her guttural, hissing language which the lacrima translated in neutral tones. "When was there enough time to ask anything? The Star Singer's soul was breaking apart. Final death for the Singer was the other option. To waste time learning intricacies was impossible. No matter how much you rant, the Singer is alive because of the Fairies using Soul Binding magic. The Abyss Lord is still tied down because they made a snap decision to accept two compatible, and equally strong life force bearing men's offers."

Metalicana watched his fledgling's anger drive the man into a new fit of pacing. Had things played out differently, it might have been Gajeel who was robbed of a piece of his soul over asking the wrong question. Gajeel was fortunate to have escaped getting fused to the Star Singer's soul in Metalicana's opinion. Knowing Gajeel's concern was directly related to how territorial all Slayers became once they found their chosen mate, Metalicana agreed that his fledgling had reason to be incensed about the cavalier treatment of fellow Slayers. As long as the two Slayers were unable to speak for themselves, perhaps Gajeel felt he had to humiliate the Ancients in their places.

Igneel was sure to explode when he arrived and learned about the dangerous magical situation foisted upon his own fledgling. Metalicana was dreading Igneel's unfettered wrath once he knew all that had transpired. Of all the Elemental Dragon Kings and Queens, Igneel's temper was the most volatile when roused. Dealing with Igneel was going to be a pain the moment he knew what had befallen his Natsu.

"Calm down, Fledgling. Fury dulls your wits and blocks the means to find working solutions, and you well know it. Winhermeare and her kind went into Time Suspension long before humans were actually taught Dragon magic by us so they were ignorant and that is a fact. Dragon Masters are not like Slayers so they can't be compared to you or the others. Our focus should be kept where it belongs right now. Undoing this mess before they wake up must be our priority." Metalicana reminded the furious man.

"The Fairies said the spell can't be undone, Dad. If Laxus and Natsu do wake up, their dragon instincts will take over and make them kill each other. Bunny Girl's caught in the middle of their fight no matter what she wants, and that's going to shred her sanity. She can't deal with this kind of bullshit! She's the biggest hearted human I've ever met. Those bastards' fight is gonna hurt her badly no matter who survives! Bunny Girl's going to blame herself and it's all these ancient idiots' fault!"

The translation lacrima pulsed in Winhermeare's hand while she spoke in her own tongue. The crystal resonated, words rolling out of the magical sphere. "Soul Binding will prevent them from killing each other. In fact, it will keep them unmoving until they make peace with each other and accept new roles. Such has always been the case with that kind of magic. Soul Bond makes each aware of every truth that the others hide. As the smaller man seems to have Fey birthright, the new soul shards will force order upon his chaotic mind."

Gajeel stalked closer to the Bane Warrior woman. His fury turned his voice into a borderline roar. "You people flat refuse to listen to anyone who knows what it means to be a Dragon Slayer which is the worst fucking kind of arrogance! Your so damned sure that your screwed up spell is going to force two Dragon Slayers to lose their individual personalities and instincts that they won't realize they aren't the same person. Well guess what, bitch, you're completely off your fucking rocker wrong! The minute either one wakes up, you'll find out exactly how wrong you can get if I know those two."

Sertatsie hummed softly as she tried to calm the pair of combatants before either struck a physical blow. "Young one, you have the right to feel anger over what seems like a great wrong done to your companions. Nevertheless it is possible that the Fairy Soul Bond will hinder their deadlier instincts toward each other. The common practice to stabilize three is for Soul Shards to be exchanged equally between all three. It is long proven knowledge that sways Winhermeare's judgement in this case."

"Well excuse me for only being a real Dragon Slayer, with dragon instincts and ways that I learned from Metalicana. Guess I'm not good enough if I don't appreciate their high and mightier than the rest of us variety of shit stinking attitude." Gajeel snarled with his fists and teeth clenched hard. "As a Dragon Slayer who knows what it means, all I can say is that fighters like us don't lose ourselves to anything but actual death, Old One. Sparky and Ash breath will fight to keep their independent personalities. Considering nobody warned any of them about the possible loss of identity before they got used, they'll fight even harder to beat this raw deal! If this spell won't let them wake up because they're fighting to be themselves, all three of them are already dead."

Metalicana snorted a stream of smoke through his nose, but refrained from speaking. To Gajeel's mind, both his fellow Dragon Slayers, and the Star Singer, were exactly as he said. All of them were dead which sent Gajeel into a state of loss triggered rage. The only thing that remained was to see which route their deaths took in Gajeel's mind. One route meant a lot of physical destruction, blind rage, and agony before someone's last breath was drawn. The other was nothing short of an indignant wasting away of comatose bodies.

In Metalicana's opinion, the former was more likely to happen. Dragon magic changed humans on very deep and subtle levels that the Fairies had not accounted for when they used two Slayers in their scheme. Because of constant exposure to the dragon's life force as they learned dragon magic, their adopted humans developed dragon like senses, and instincts. Metalicana doubted Fairy magic could fully negate a Slayer's deepest ingrained draconic instincts. Although, with one being artificially made, it was possible that the Lightning Slayer was more susceptible to Fairy magic than Igneel's fledgling.

Winhermeare's lacrima began translating her soft, growled words. "If they have such strong instincts from their Dragon magic, then it may be easier for them to align for the Singer's benefit. Instincts determine roles in many creatures, and the same is true with Soul Binding. Therefore, the female Star Singer's position will decide which roles both males will take. She will be the Alpha female so will control their foolish male aggression. I believe her strong enough to manage both males. She has great inner strength, or would not have survived feeding so many Astral Chains as long as she has."

Watching Gajeel stomp over the same ground and return was dull, but Metalicana smelled his fledgling's unabating fury quite sharply. Somewhat perplexed by the blatant change in Gajeel's personality since he had last seen his fledgling, Metalicana tried to maintain the dregs of his strained patience. To learn what had caused Gajeel's change in personality required clear thinking. So far, the words his Fledgling had spewed after helping get his comrades put in the infirmary pointed to Gajeel having a strong attachment to the girl. Metalicana mulled over the best way to breach the topic without sending his irate fledgling into a deadly fight with the Bane Warrior. If he was mourning the girl's death prematurely, things would only deteriorate beyond salvage whenever she did die.

Sertatsie lowered her head next to Winhermeare who also reeked of anger, and impatience as a means to prevent the Fey woman from attacking Gajeel. Narrowing his eyes, Metalicana watched the Bane Warrior even closer than Gajeel since she was the more dangerous smelling. Little about her scent reminded him of anything remotely human. If anything, the Fey smelled alarmingly similar to a demon. Was Winhermeare an actual Spawn, or a Fey Demon Bane?

Metalicana considered Winhermeare's vivid skin, now free of filth after Fairy Tail's population managed to get her scrubbed clean. Her skin was not even a passable human color. Winhermeare's dull carmine flesh resembled tough hide, identical to that of a hairless demon's pelt. The points in favor of a Bane was that Winhermeare had strange hair for a Spawn. It was too curly and supple in the tones of chestnut and amber. Spawns had livid colored hair through pitch black with the stiffness and texture of poorly spun wire. Her eyes were a garish pink, but lacked the silvery pupil slits of a Spawn also.

Winhermeare could still pass for a Spawn, but was most likely a Fey Demon Bane Metalicana concluded. Few Feys survived eating such poisonous prey, but those few survivors were recalled in Dragon Lore as legendary fighters. According to the oldest lore Metalicana knew, Feys started eating real Demons to survive during the Purging Times. Only the hybrids who settled into the most inhospitable land zones where food was scarce were ever left alone by the other races. The downside of their exile had been the proximity of demon gates which constantly belched out new enemies. Any hybrid child not confined on Tenru continent as a Fairy slave, was relentlessly hunted down and butchered by the pedigree races during that stone age era.

Only the tiny Satyrs, and Centaur races had refused to get involved with the meaningless slaughter of Fey children. Dragons had treated Fey ambushes the same as they did Human tribes during that period. If a dragon was hungry, they would eat an ambush, or tribe, but considered such food akin to appetizers instead of meals because it took so much effort to kill and eat enough of them at one time.

Gajeel's snarling voice grabbed Metalicana's attention. ". . . insanely territorial when it comes to our spouse. We're no different than our dragons when we settle down with our lifelong partner and start a family. We even get the same empathic links as any normal dragon pair. You're Sacred Saint admitted that those damned Fairies used a spell that they created for their own breeding purposes! So why can't any of you admit your Fairies really fucked up by using a mating spell to tie two Dragon Slayers to the same woman?"

Winhermeare's translated answer echoed outward after several moments. "Mistake it may be to your thinking, yet none of us know the outcome even if the males are territorial by nature. Your people know nothing of the magic used to save the Star Singer, and we know little of Dragon Slayer people. The outcome may be completely different from anything either side expects because of the Star Singer."

Sertatsie's eyes whirled with multiple colors as she dipped her head to meet Gajeel's eyes. "Perhaps the three will surprise us all due to the one factor of this kind of Bonding magic which has always proven true. It is impossible for any of them to misunderstand each other now. Lies are no longer possible between them. When soul shards are exchanged, each life becomes dependant upon the other life involved. The shards may even bring these two males together for all we know."

"We don't do things that way, Old One. Even if they somehow manage to wake up and not kill each other, it's against the law to have multiple spouses. Bunny Girl will be forced to pick one of them, and ignore the other which will make things unbearable for her. They're all getting the shaft thanks to your little deluded pals' bullshit!"

Metalicana shook his scaled head to loosen his bemused state. He had never envisioned Gajeel being so protective of a non mate material human, but his fledgling's time with these humans had changed him. The way the Slayer continued to pace and the fury he could not contain spoke eloquently of his emotions. The little Star Singer was precious to Gajeel, but why if she was not coveted as his mate.

"How do you see your Bunny Girl, Fledgling?"

"Huh? Why're you asking me that, Dad?" Gajeel whirled on his heels and glared up at him.

"Because, you won't stop stomping around and roaring at this Demon Bane who had nothing to do with casting that infernal spell. It's been two days so you've had enough time to make peace with this, but you flat refuse. Bunny Girl, as you call her, must be very important to you, even if you try to deny it." Metalicana snapped.

"Guess you could say Bunny's everyone's sister. Wasn't always that way for me . . . but, uhmm well, after Phantom Lord got disbanded . . . and how she forgives everyone for being an asshole, . . . You could say that people can't help but get used to having her around." Gajeel spluttered as his indignant scowl grew.

Siblings were very important to humans as Metalicana knew very well. Gajeel's answer was not unexpected, yet Metalicana wanted his fledgling to recognize his unsettled temper's true cause. To hear his fledgling spitting out words with such a scowl was proof that Gajeel still thought emotions like caring for others was a weakness.

"So you finally found yourself a human family, and your closest sibling is in danger. Your anger will take time to burn out I suppose." Metalicana answered as amusement began to stir in the back of his mind. Fledgling got more interesting every day it seemed.

Sertatsie wheezed at his flippant tone. The Ancient Queen realized what he was up to Metalicana knew. Her rapidly changing eye color was proof that she was thinking about whether or not his way of dealing with his fledgling was acceptable.

"Shut it, Dad! There's nothing wrong with my being pissed off. Mass destruction's gonna happen if they wake up! Bunny Girl's not gonna be able to stop those two morons for long, even if she's damned scary when pissed off enough."

Winhermeare's peals of laughter was echoed by Sertatsie and finally by Metalicana. Recovering first, Metalicana gave Gajeel a toothy grin and asked, "How is it you can doubt that your adopted sibling can keep two Slayers in line after saying you consider her damned scary when angry?"

"Erm, you just don't get it, Dad. Bunny Girl's too soft hearted to stay mad for long, and she'll blame herself for their fighting. Trust me when I say this really could destroy Bunny Girl." With those words, Gajeel swivelled on his heels and stomped toward his guild's door.

==oo0oo==

The last thing Laxus recalled was how the smelly weirdos from another era planted their hands on his chest and Blondie's before he felt like he was being electrocuted, torn apart, and boiled at the same time. As if those sensations were not bad enough, they were followed by intense dizziness, and the sensation of being tugged toward Blondie. Laxus thought he heard the one in the middle telling him to share his energy with Blondie if he really wanted to save her. Nothing but a strange sense of almost being connected to Blondie had registered after that.

Laxus figured he must have passed out, but the constant pained cries that sounded suspiciously like Blondie's voice kept him seeking a way to get closer to her if only to silence the heart wrenching sobs. So Laxus had tried stumbling around in this utter darkness to follow the constant keening that reached his ears.

Focusing on walking seemed to be getting Laxus nowhere. How was he supposed to help save Blondie if he could not reach her? The reoccurring thought made Laxus furious with himself. It was too dark for Laxus to think that he was having some lucid dream any longer. It made sense that trying to walk as Laxus would in a dream or normal waking life was worth a shot, but it had failed to get him anywhere.

Deciding to sit down and contemplate less obvious ways to get around, Laxus realized that nothing was happening. For a while Laxus had been bothered by how strange this place was and now the answer was sinking in. Somehow Laxus had ignored his instincts screaming at him that gravity was missing. Bending over with his hands sweeping in the vicinity of his feet to find the floor, Laxus discovered nothing at all. An irritated snort exploded from him over the recognition that lacking gravity and ground made trying to wander around the normal way to get to Blondie was impossible.

The gears began spinning as Laxus pieced together what he knew about this weird place. Everything was very dark, and he was somehow floating in the air for a lack of a better way to describe his dilemma. Since Laxus could not walk, but felt an irresistible tug with each wail that reached his ears, was it possible to use his magic instead? Focusing on hands which Laxus could not see, he shot his magic through palms and fingertips. Sparks began to crisscross Laxus' palms and dance at his command. For the first time since Laxus became aware of being in this pitch black place, he could see.

Laxus felt his lips slide into a grin as palpable relief flooded his senses. Now to see if he could use his lightning form to get him to wherever Blondie was located within this dismal place. With the next cry that reached Laxus' ears, he shifted his body to the lightning form. The sound still tugged at Laxus, so he let it dictate his direction. Without warning Laxus found himself slamming into something very solid and hard.

Shifting back to normal, Laxus touched the wall that was both warm and solid feeling. Much to Laxus surprise, whatever it was that had stopped him began to cave forward beneath his hand. When he increased the pressure of his fingers with slow and steady pressure, the barrier gave more ground. Considering that so long as he made no drastic moves, the barrier continued to give way, Laxus forced his impatience over hearing Lucy's much louder crying into the back of his mind. For whatever reason, Laxus was certain that he had gotten closer to his goal if only because the familiar sounding voice releasing those cries was louder. Yet letting his irritation overcome his wits would get Laxus nowhere fast if he screwed up.

Treating this barrier like any delicately triggered magic trap Freed created, Laxus knew caution was the best way to proceed. Firm, slow, and steady pressure that he kept pace through counting his heartbeats increased his progress. First his fingers and hands plunged through the warm wall of resistence. Laxus froze for several seconds as he wiggled his fingers, twisted his wrists around, and tried to identify anything on the other side.

As nothing attacked him from the other side, Laxus began moving forward once more. One of Laxus feet breached the barrier next. Yet as Laxus continued to move forward, a jarring sensation such as he identified with walking on solid ground ran up his leg. Excitement skated up Laxus spine as he redoubled his efforts. Soon enough his head and shoulders were breaking through the malleable shield.

The moment Laxus opened his eyes a gasp escaped his throat. Scenery reminiscent of a formal garden with a large fountain in the center greeted Laxus eyes. Stepping fully through the last of the barrier, Laxus watched as it bounced back into its original shape for a moment. Unsure of where to find Blondie, Laxus paused to listen for her next shriek of anguish.

When Blondie's next wracking sob came, four things immediately snagged Laxus attention. First thing; the barrier shrank inward by a good foot all around as the ground shuddered. Second thing; what could only be a fountain in the middle of the garden spluttered as if a partial clog was getting lodged in the mechanism. Third thing; the wails seemed to be coming from the fountain. Fourth thing; the area's light dropped noticeably as if the sun were going down in the evening sky.

All of Laxus instincts shivered as a very bad feeling coursed through his body to wedge in his gut. Worry took hold of Laxus body to make him move fast toward the fountain area. Within moments he saw the Celestial Spirit Mage was halfway buried by what he had thought was a fountain, being pulled into some kind of silvery pool while struggling to keep her head above the substance Laxus had first mistaken for water. The chains they had been unable to touch when fighting the void spell were very much in view as Laxus skidded to a halt beside the pinned down mage. Dark veins were writhing across the woman's skin, tainting her face, shoulders, and even what Laxus could see of her stomach. To top it off, what looked like a dead corpse holding a large jar was slowly sinking into the woman's upper back, merging into Blondie's nude body.

Part of Laxus mind registered her lack of clothing and sought to control his eyes long enough to ogle the woman. Laxus mentally slammed the door on his more perverted side before it could slow him down. Saving Blondie's life took precedence over getting an eye full of above average feminine beauty he chastised that part of himself.

The actual fountain effect was due to the silvery energy exploding from the jar Laxus recognized as he took in the scene before him. It was not an actual fountain that had grabbed his attention, but a raw wellspring of power getting sucked into different directions and taking everything within it's path away with every pulse of life it ripped out of Lucy.

"What the fuck's happening to you, Blondie?" Laxus growled at the trapped woman in an attempt to cover how shaken he felt.

Dropping onto his haunches, Laxus wrapped one of his muscular arms under the girl. With a glare at the blue haired corpse, Laxus pushed his arm between Lucy's shoulders and the sinking body, hoping to pry the corpse off her back. As Laxus discovered he could not pry the corpse off his crush, he began doing what he could to keep her body lifted higher. The chains were resistant to the motion, but somehow Laxus managed to get Lucy into an upright position where he could get a look at her face.

"Come on, Blondie, snap out of it. Look at me damn it!"

"Go away, Laxus. I betrayed and killed Aquarius. I'm a horrible person. You shouldn't bother with someone like me." Managed to slip past her blood stained lips.

"Like I'm going to abandon you over shit you had no control over. I heard about how you were told to break your key, Blondie. Aquarius demanded that you do what you did. The only one who got betrayed was you, not that damned spirit of yours!" Laxus barked in her ear as he held her against his chest.

Another heart wrenching wail escaped Lucy's lips as the spirit sank deeper into her back. Another drop in area size and light shook the area. Even less ground was left within the barrier. Laxus found his eyes widening as he got an unwelcome idea about what was happening to the young woman. Was this what happened within a person's depths when they were dying physically? The thought almost locked down Laxus ability to think off for a few seconds as panic threatened.

Recalling the hazy memory of being told to give Blondie energy when he asked how he could save her, Laxus took a deep breath. He focused on sending a small spark of his magic into the girl as a test to ensure he did not hurt her. Almost immediately the energy was inhaled, and Laxus found himself getting drained. With every pulse of energy wrenched from Laxus magic reserves, the area began to shudder and buckle, brightening and expanding. Painful as it was, Laxus did not allow his instincts to break free. Each pulse was returning color and vibrancy to the woman's skin. The area was expanding into a lush and beautiful setting with sunlight gaining in strength to showcase the garden's flowers.

The biggest shock to Laxus was when the barrier suddenly expanded yet again and a very confused and annoyed looking Natsu appeared out of nowhere. The pink haired idiot immediately began shouting. "Luce! Where are you? I'm here to save you, so answer me!"

Before Laxus could open his mouth, he suddenly found that his mind was swarming with images, emotions, and thoughts that were not his own. Lucy's fists pushed against Laxus chest which gave him a way to focus on his surroundings again. Hiccuping sniffles continued to slap at his heart as the woman tried to catch her strangled breath.

"W,w,w,wh,why a, a, you h,h,h,e,here a,a,a,and na,na,naked, Laxus?" Lucy stuttered as her head yanked to the side to avoid looking at him.

"No idea why I'm naked, but so are you, and Flame Brain. As to why I'm here, I volunteered to save you, so I'm guessing that Squinty eyed idiot you call your partner is here for the same reason."

As if his words had given Natsu a way to lock onto Blondie's location, Natsu dropped beside them. "Luce? Are you okay?" With a darkening glare, Natsu snarled at Laxus. "What do you think you're fucking doing, groping Luce like that?"

Resisting the urge to release the shaking blond in his arms to beat the moron into oblivion, Laxus snapped back, "I'm not groping Blondie, Firebrand! I have to hang onto her in order to give her as much of my energy as possible to keep her alive! Why don't you stop jumping to conclusions and get the fucking corpse off her back before it kills her?!"

Natsu nodded, leapt to his feet, and suddenly made a weird choking noise. Laxus swivelled his head and glanced at a horrified looking Natsu. "I know it's disturbing, but we gotta save Blondie so you gotta pull that off her back!"

"How'd Aquarius get here? Why's she stuck to Luce like this?" Natsu muttered in barely audible tones.

"We don't have time for questions before we get them separated, Flame Brain. Blondie's in serious danger of dying. If we can get Blondie stable, I'll tell you what I figured out about what's happening. We have to work fast, and get Blondie stable or she's going to die. If you got caught in that pitch black nothingness like I did, then you should realize it exists because Blondie's dying."

"But, everything turned into this place all of a sudden." Natsu protested.

"I'm giving Blondie enough energy to keep her alive. Considering how much it's drawing off of me, it allowed her to stabilize enough to return part of her vitality and energy which is what this garden represents, Dumb Ass! What do you think those healers were talking about us doing when they used that weird feeling spell to link us to our Guild mate? To save her, we have to work together to undo the damage and give her enough energy to survive this attack that's killing her."

Comprehension sparked in the pink haired man's eyes. After another shudder of distaste, Natsu circled behind Lucy, grabbed the Celestial Spirit's arm, and began tugging the spirit in the opposite direction. "You know, I could hold onto her and you could try to get Aquarius free. You're taller than me."

"If I could, I would switch places with you to try and rip that corpse off her back. The problem is that you'd probably fry Blondie instead of give her a manageable level energy boost. Plus the rate I'm being drained is frightening."

"I'm so sorry, Laxus, Natsu. You don't have to do this for me. Just let me go."

"Forget it, Luce! 'You're my best friend and I won't abandon you!" Natsu snarled.

Laxus sighed. The woman deserved to know what was happening to her. "We got some visitors right after Gajeel used that spell to knock you out so we could buy enough time to get you healed. The strangers admitted to tampering with some kind of demon trapping seals that your damned Lion spirit helped create several thousand years ago, Blondie. The original seals that keep the damned demon trapped are destabilizing because of the tampering they did to turn certain human bloodlines into automatic repair lacrimas of a sort. The chains stuck to you right now are from the tampering that was done to the seals. Your being sucked dry of your magic and life force at a rate to keep that fucking demon locked away. The tampering that the newcomers did to make the prison stronger is putting your life at risk for some reason. The fact that Loke knows, but doesn't trust the Fairies in that party is also worrisome. But right now, I do know that if you die, some really bad ass demon that destroyed all but a small chink of a continent will be free to destroy Fiore at an insane pace if we can't save you."

Blond hair flowed across Laxus face as the woman whipped her head around and looked into his eyes for the first time. Dull brown eyes met his as Lucy blinked with her mouth hanging ajar. "No way! Are you messing with me?"

Laxus felt his brows plunge as his temper sparked over the obvious doubt shining upon Lucy's face. "How the fuck could I come up with such a ridiculous story on my own, Blondie? You're from the Orion bloodline according to those damned Fairies. They claimed to have come out of a Time Suspension spell to stop the demon they call Abyss Lord from getting free. You're the key to releasing the damned demon but nobody knew it until now. The reason for all the Dark Guild attacks on you is because of those bastards making your ancestors into the power source that feeds the prison and repairs it."

"Why would anyone do something so horrible?" Blondie whispered as fresh tears began to fall.

Laxus swallowed hard, tugged the woman's head against his chest and responded. "You're guess is as good as mine, Blondie. But they already verified that you're illness is because of what they did, and Loke said they were telling the truth."

A muffled sob from the Celestial mage had Laxus and Natsu's eyes meeting. If Natsu's angry expression was proof of being a fraction as enraged as Laxus felt, his own features probably looked downright terrifying, Laxus thought as he tried to comfort Lucy and keep her life force stable.

~~oo0oo~~


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks for the newest faves, and follows that I've received. Special thanks going to Wise Old Owl, kerippi, and Designer101, and HaruXKyouyaLaxusXLucy4EVER. I'm glad you've enjoyed this story enough to write a review. Thanks so much for your encouragement which keeps me writing despite "oddball" real life schedules. Hiro Mashima deserves thanks for creating a place for my devious plot bunnies to run amok. As to pairings question, . . . I'll just say ::::Evil Bunny giggles fill the background:::: only time will tell because of the spell involved. Sorry about any mistakes in this raw draft right now. Chapter 10 should be uploaded in a day or two since it is Natsu's POV of this situation. I was somewhat writing both at the same time this round.

CHAPTER 9

Laxus swallowed hard, and pulled the magically exhausted woman's head against his chest. "You're guess is as good as mine, Blondie. But they already verified that you're illness is because of what they did, and Loke said they were telling the truth."

Muffled bawling followed his unpleasant revelation. Unsure how to respond to such copious tears, Laxus caught Natsu's eyes over Blondie's head. If Natsu's furious expression was any indication of his feelings, Laxus figured his own features must look downright terrifying considering his own barely controlled rage.

Unlike the pink haired man standing somewhat behind the Celestial Mage, Laxus knew plenty about this sickening trap that threatened to snuff out Lucy's existence. Taking a deep breath, Laxus forced his magic to stay inert so he would not do accidental damage as she absorbed much needed power. Excruciating discomfort shivered through Laxus chest when the petite woman collapsed fully against him, tears cascading down his bare chest.

"Calm down, Luce. I'll get you out of this mess, same as always. You know I'll make sure you're safe." Natsu said with a look of fierce determination settling onto his features as he shifted his stance in preparation to drag Aquarius' carcass out of Lucy's back.

Blondie sniffed and gulped several times to steady her breathing before trying to twist around inside Laxus hold to look at the Guild's number one dimwit. However, instead of saying anything rational, Blondie cut loose with an ear splitting scream, face whipping back toward Laxus so fast that he wondered if her neck would break.

"Natsu, you pervert! Where the hell are your clothes? It's bad enough Gray strips all the time, but I expect better from you! How dare you copy Gray?" Laxus repressed a groan that Blondie was going off on the same exact tirade that they had already covered. After warning her that they were all nude, Laxus had assumed the subject was closed. However, it seemed as if Blondie had other plans.

"I'm not copying that stupid stripper! You're just as naked as me and Laxus, Luce! Damn, you're such a weirdo at times!" Laxus heard Natsu snarl while jerking on Aquarius' arm hard enough to almost yank her out of his firm hold.

'_Why does the hottest woman in the whole fucking guild have to be such a damned prude at a time like this? It totally screws up her sex appeal when she flakes out about her body. Why the hell am I even thinking about this? Focus on the real issue here. Blondie's running out of time and I've got to find a way to put a stop to this damned bloodline curse before she dies.'_

The next thing Laxus knew, the Celestial Spirit Mage did an about face and turned demonic. If not for how tight he was holding onto her because of Natsu's struggles to yank the Celestial Spirit out of her, Laxus was sure the woman would have used her vicious signature kick on them both. However, as she could not break free, Blondie did her level best to cover her breasts and settled on screaming at them both.

"Don't look at me you perverts! Where're my clothes? You two better get dressed right now! This isn't funny!"

Laxus recalled thinking earlier that he would put up with her screams even if his ears bled due to the agony she had to be suffering. Instead of trying to silence Lucy, Laxus let her yell, wincing as her loud voice assaulted his eardrums. It was about the only thing Laxus knew he could do for her until he figured out how to undo the curse that was the root of her problems. Still, Laxus also knew that neither he nor Natsu had known this would happen and leaving Lucy in the dark would only increase her hysteria. Granted Laxus was not absolutely certain where they were located, but figured he had a decent grasp of the probabilities. It also gave him an opportunity to tease the feisty woman.

Ears still ringing, Laxus barked to get Lucy's attention, "Shut it, Blondie! We're inside your mind so we can't do a damned thing about not wearing any clothes in your territory. We're probably naked because some part of your own brain wants to see us like this. Furthermore, we didn't know when we agreed to shore up your life force to save you that this would happen. The Fairies cast some spell that is supposed to strengthen your life force by using our energy. So if being naked bugs you so much, figure out how to make clothes for us all to wear!"

"Don't you dare blame this on me, Jerk! Let me go, Idiot! I can't believe you'd take advantage of me like this! No way am I responsible for your perverted thoughts!"

Laxus swallowed the smart ass comeback trying to trip off his tongue. The way Lucy squirmed as she tried to break away was sorely taxing Laxus' formidable will power and composure. His mind was having a hard time focusing on how to extricate her from her Celestial Spirit's corpse because she was squirming in the most enticing way. Laxus could do little more than bite the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood and create the most revolting images inside his mind. Still, the pain did little to prevent his perverted side from rising to the occasion.

'_If only we weren't in the middle of this crisis I would so be enjoying this to the fullest right now. I'd be doing all sorts of delightful things to make Blondie scream in pleasure instead of suffering in agony. I'm going to kill those fucking bastards who did this to her the moment this is over and done.'_

Aloud, Laxus snapped to force the woman to be still before his body reacted to the sensations. "Shut up, be still, and listen, Blondie! If I let go of you, you're going to be drained to the point that you're life will be in danger a second time. We volunteered to give you energy so you won't die while everyone else figures out how to break these chains that are killing you! None of this is a big deal, so knock it off with the panicking prude act. You're being hysterical without any reason. Although, can't say I blame you for being freaked out looking at everything your dealing with right now."

"What are you saying, Laxus?" Lucy demanded.

"I doubt anyone realizes that you've got what looks like a very dead spirit stuck in here with you, Blondie. So calm down and let us save you without fighting us!" Laxus growled right back at her.

Laxus thought for a moment that he was getting through to the woman as she stopped squirming. However, Lucy lifted her chin and Laxus got a good look at her features. Tears streaked her face, and her skin kept sliding between a sickly blizzard white and mottled ham red. "Don't call me Blondie when you're just as blond as me, Laxus! I have a name and I'd appreciate it if you used it. As to Aquarius, I deserve a lot worse punishment because I betrayed her when I broke her key to summon the Celestial King. Doesn't matter that she told me to do it. I should have asked her what would happen to her before doing it." Lucy hissed while giving him a dirty look.

Seeing the fight return life to Lucy's eyes, Laxus chose to bait her to make her mad enough to keep fighting. "Tch . . . Stop blaming yourself over this bullshit. Although, I gotta admit you have a rare talent for getting yourself into trouble, . . . you're stuck with me and Fire Breath until these damned astral chains are gone. After we're through with this mission, you can go back to hating me to your little heart's content, Cosplayer."

Without any warning, Natsu heaved back on Aquarius as Laxus was arguing with the distraught woman. Concentrating on riling Blondie enough to make her forget their nakedness, Laxus failed to brace himself in time. The hold Laxus had on Lucy insured that he was yanked into her. Trying to stabilize herself, Lucy clutched Laxus' shoulders and tried to haul herself back into him. Because Laxus had squatted when he hauled Lucy out of the weird pool earlier, they tumbled on top of Natsu, dragging him down beneath their combined weight.

To say that they landed in a very compromising position was an understatement. Unable to get both arms liberated because of one being trapped by Aquarius's body, Laxus landed fully on top of Lucy. Although it was an accident, Laxus forehead slammed into the astral chains' ring which was protruding from the top of Lucy's voluptuous breasts. Laxus could not suppress the pained grunt that escaped his throat because it made his skull ache. Aside from that, drowning in Blondie's firm, silky skinned perfection was something Laxus had to enjoy. Definitely was nice to feel her better than an average man's handful against his face. It was a real shame that Lucy was keeping such gorgeous breasts to herself Laxus decided.

Lucy was spluttering incoherent noises, and squirming because she was trapped between two muscular bodies. _'For the love of God, she's going to kill me if she keeps moving that way. I'm so never going to believe the prude act ever again. Shit, I've gotta get off her like yesterday or lose it.' _

If not for Natsu's audible growl from the bottom of their human pile, Laxus would have been very tempted to loiter right where he was by using pain as an excuse. However, Laxus was mindful that Natsu could burn Lucy if he failed to get up and save her from Natsu's potential melt down.

"Get off me and Luce! You're way too freaking heavy, Bastard!" Natsu yowled as Laxus untangled his confined arm.

"Give me a damned second, Lame Brain! I had to get my arm free since it got trapped between Blondie and the damned corpse." Laxus growled in replay.

Pulling back so he could grab Blondie's arm and help her up, Laxus could not miss the saucer sized eyes and crimson flush that the dishy little prude was sporting. Lucy Heartfilia was blushing all the way down into her ample boobs. As if she read his mind, Lucy whipped her arms over her chest and almost yanked him off his feet again.

'_Really is a pity that such a gorgeous, smoking hot body belongs to a damned fuddy-duddy personality. I'd love to break Lucy out of playing little miss nice girl all the time. Talk about a complete waste of one incredibly sexy body! If there is a god out there, I bet he totally hates me because this kind of irony is downright cruel.'_

"I'm going to kill you for saying something like that about Luce, Lightning Rod!" Natsu snarled as a flame shot from his mouth. "Apologize to Luce right now, or so help me I'm going to beat an apology out of you!"

"Huh? Laxus didn't say anything, Natsu." Lucy responded with a furrowed brow while biting her lower lip. Laxus took the opportunity to yank her up and off of Natsu, and pulled her back into his hold.

"I heard him, Luce!" Natsu jumped up as flames erupted across his fists.

Alarm skittered down Laxus spine. Somehow they were in the same situation as Lucy's spirit and his instincts howled that Natsu's anger backed magic could kill Lucy. Instincts had Laxus shifting his body to protect Lucy from accidental injury before he even thought about how his actions might look.

"Are you seriously trying to kill Blondie, Dumb Ass? Have you already forgotten that we're magically linked into her right now? Any careless moves with our magic could do irreparable damage to her body or her mind. No matter how many healers are working to save her on the outside right now, if either one of us lose control of our power, she won't make it out of this mess alive."

The flames evaporated. "I don't get you, Laxus. What's your problem with Lucy being herself? And why do you think we're somehow inside Lucy when she's right there in front of us, with you pawing her no less?"

"I am not pawing Blondie, you Jackass. And if you ever tried listening when people are talking, you'd already realize what's happening. Your biggest problem is your refusal to sit still long enough to pay attention to the things people say, Salamander."

"That's Lucy's job because she's good at solving puzzles and that kind of stuff. I'm the brute strength in our team. Lucy figures out the weirder parts of all our missions because she's really good at it. I'd bet Luce can figure things out faster than you, Laxus."

"Wait a minute, Natsu! I don't even know how I got here, or why you two are here, or where these crazy things attached to me came from. The last thing I remember was sending you to get Wendy because I could barely breathe since it felt like I was being crushed from the inside."

Laxus pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand as he listened to the two bickering. "Well I'll look forward to Blondie getting into the S class soon. As to what has been happening I can fill you in on the details any time."

"I'm sure I'll make it before Luce because I'm a lot stronger."

Laxus temper flared at Natsu's smug tone. "You're wrong if you think brute strength alone will cut it, Idiot. Gramps said Lucy did a great job of figuring out the clues he gave at the test several years ago, so I believe she'll have what it takes if she improves her basic combat skills to get rid of that specific weakness. Above all else, S class requires leadership, listening, and thinking skills, Flame Thrower. I've done many S class missions. Not one of my missions has ever been solely about demonstrating brute magical strength, and winning fights through guts and stamina alone. Many S class jobs require me to uncover clues and answer riddles. I'd say the percentage requiring brains over brawn is over sixty percent. Fail the mental test, and no amount of brute strength and raw power will ever get you into the S class ranks. As much as I like your eagerness to tackle any problem, Natsu, you lack the most important ingredient for being an S class mage. If you can't pay attention long enough to notice the clues, you'll never be able to solve the majority of S class cases."

Exhaustion must have begun skewing Laxus perception of time. How long had it been since he began this power struggle to keep Lucy alive? The answer was beyond Laxus at this point. Natsu was damned strong physically. It was one reason Laxus assigned him the task of pulling the Celestial Spirit's corpse out of Lucy's back to temper his raw power through physical exercise. It was disappointing that Natsu had failed to accomplish anything more than giving Laxus a free grope during his attempts to separate the two.

Aquarius, even in death, was perhaps the most stubborn being that Laxus had ever encountered. Hearing rumors about the fish woman from his guild mates could not do justice to the reality he was facing now on Lucy's behalf. Laxus was determined to find the answer to this riddle, plus get this corpse because it could only cause serious harm to Lucy's magic and life force.

Laxus had more refined magical control so was better suited to supporting Lucy's life force needs than the overly eager younger Slayer who did not even understand the concept. The bigger problem that Laxus was noticing was all the magic power flying to the ceiling which did not return to Lucy as Laxus thought it should. If his suspicion was correct, all the power he was sharing with Lucy was getting diverted which was a very bad sign. Natsu collapsed onto his knees in front of them in a childish pout.

"Can't get Aquarius off of Luce unless I burn her off. But if it will hurt Luce, I can't risk it." Natsu grumbled while glaring at the arm wrapped urn with head and part of the Spirit's shoulder that were still visible on Lucy's back. The urn pissed Laxus off because it was shooting a steady stream of energy into the air and out of sight.

"Glad you realized something that important on your own. If you hadn't, I'd be knocking you out for Blondie's safety, Natsu. Now we know that we won't be able to detach the spirit from Blondie by using brute force. So I'll have to figure out another way to safely separate them. I don't know more than the rudimentary stuff about Celestial Magic so it's going to take me some time to come up with a working plan. I'm a lot more worried about how the urn and the chains are taking so much of Blondie's magic and life force away from her. The two draining elements may kill her if we can't reverse at least one of these power flows."

Despite the deadly nature of Lucy's situation, Laxus found that he was pleased to be in the thick of saving her no matter the frustrations it entailed. A voice in Laxus mind attributed his irrational contentment to finally following his ethics and aiding the young woman leaning against his bare chest, panting from her own growing fatigue. Another part of Laxus mind snapped that protecting his favorite girl made this headache worthwhile.

"What do you know about what's happening to me, Laxus?" Lucy asked which side tracked Laxus from the unwelcome mental argument.

Blondie seemed like she was finally calm enough to get curious. With a heavy sigh, Laxus dropped down onto the grass covered ground and tugged her halfway across his lap. When she tried to squirm away, Laxus wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Stop struggling. I'm only doing this to keep you stable so quit acting like a pain in the ass. I have to touch you to keep my magic flow regulated, Blondie. Trying to do this without contact means I could electrocute you by accident"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that before you'll open your own ears and listen, Sparky?" Lucy snapped as she whacked the outside of his thigh with a pitiful attempt at a punch. Still, Laxus was relieved that she stopped trying to escape.

"Do you really prefer getting called Cosplayer then?" What possessed Laxus to ask such a question escaped him.

Yet Laxus was not the least disappointed when Lucy's temper ignited and she gave him a very intimidating glare while punching him in the chest. "Oh you are such an arrogant ass, Laxus Dreyer! I swear you do that to make me mad on purpose."

Laxus could not contain the smirk and chuckle that her female pique caused him. "Sorry, I can't help picking on you in good fun, Lucy. You're way too funny when you overreact."

Huffing, Lucy crossed her arms over her ample chest and turned up her cute little nose to glare off in the distance. A moment later Lucy leaned forward, almost overbalancing with the added weight on her back shifting from her movement. "Uhm, what's that?"

Laxus shifted to hold her steady as Lucy lifted an arm and pointed behind Natsu. Following her gaze, Laxus was startled to see images that seemed to focus on Natsu's life flashing and flowing across the shield. The shield looked as if it had contracted somewhat since he first arrived and gave Lucy a much needed power boost.

The pink haired youth twisted around and leapt to his feet. "Wow! I remember that day. Igneel was making me break boulders to teach me how to focus my fire and spirit strength into my fists. I really do miss dad. Maybe Gajeel's dragon is right, and I'll get to see Igneel soon."

Lucy twisted to look around the space they were trapped within, a thoughtful look crossing her features. Without warning she reached back, grabbed onto Laxus bicep and hauled herself back into his lap, and then rose onto her knees. Laxus cocked an eyebrow while wondering if she had decided he was her new personal jungle gym. The view of peaches and cream skin especially her voluptuous chest up close was almost worth the indignity, but not quite under the circumstances.

"Oy, Blondie, what the fuck are you doing now?"

"Sorry, Laxus, but Natsu's memories aren't the only one's appearing. Looks like yours are also." Lucy reported.

His jaw clenching, Laxus twisted to see where she was pointing with a look of real sadness on her face. The sight that greeted Laxus eyes was not a pleasant memory. His father was holding the dragon lacrima that was magically implanted into his right eye. Seeing his father leaning in closer with magic sparking upon his fingers, Laxus felt bile rising in his throat. His eyes closing, Laxus took a deep breath to contain his suddenly roiling stomach.

'_Why is one of my most horrible memories showing up inside Blondie's head like this? So are Natsu's memories for that matter. What the hell is going on here? Nobody mentioned anything like this happening when I volunteered to help Blondie by sharing my power with her. Don't recall ever reading or hearing about any magic that has this kind of effect. What the hell did those bastards do to us?' _

"Are you alright, Laxus?" Lucy's voice pulled Laxus out of his thoughts. He turned away from the images playing out his life, and looked into the woman's warm brown eyes.

"Fine, blondie. Just trying to figure out what the hell is happening. I've never heard of magic that has so many oddities to it"

"I've heard that some branches of ancient magic had really strange side effects. It was the side effects that convinced Mages to stop using it in the long run,"

"Could be. Considering it seems we are dealing with real Fairies and they have been extinct for a long time, I can only guess that their magic has an adverse effect on humans at this point."

"Then why did you and Natsu volunteer to get stuck inside my mind like this?" Lucy asked with a stern, worried expression marring her features.

"I've already told you that we're keeping you alive while the rest of our Guild figures out how to save your life. Fairy Tail Mages don't abandon out own when they're in trouble and you damned well know it, Blondie." Laxus growled.

The last thing Laxus wanted was for Lucy to start feeling sorry for him since she had seen such a gruesome and cruel piece of his own history. Stranger still, Laxus had the strangest feeling that he knew things about Lucy that was a physical impossibility no matter how he looked at the situation. The feeling that the woman sitting in his lap had felt very lonely for a very long time was one of many things surfacing from an unidentified corner within himself.

"Look, let's focus on how we can get rid of the chains and the Spirit that's attached to you for now. We need to keep our priorities straight, Lucy. Same goes for you too, Natsu. Stop spacing out and let's get things fixed on this end so we can all wake up."

Natsu smacked his fists together with his trademark grin. "Sure. Tell me what needs to get done and you can count on me."

Laxus rolled his eyes and held in the groan he felt in the back of his throat. If nothing else, Laxus figured he was going to discover an all new level of patience after dealing with the hyperactive Slayer.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Somewhat similar to the previous chapter, but from Natsu's point of view. Expect some overlapping moments in dialog content. I worked on the last chapter at the same time more or less. I hate mixing POV's so kind of had to do both at almost the same time.

CHAPTER 10

"Luce! Where are you? I'm here to save you, so answer me!" Natsu asked the moment he could see anything other than the dark nothingness that had surrounded him before. The shuddering barrier had flattened and then passed over Natsu so he found himself laying upon trimmed grass. Sitting up, Natsu looked around.

Of all the people that Natsu could discover himself tag teamed with to save Lucy, Laxus was the most unexpected person he could imagine. Natsu went from being trapped in a blank, black space, to blinking his eyes and discovering Laxus hanging onto Lucy in the middle of some kind of fancy garden, Natsu felt downright strange. Such a team effort was not something that Natsu could have foreseen. Laxus had a long history of placing conditions on anything that involved helping Lucy. With Phantom Lord, the condition was Lucy had to be his girlfriend. Other dangerous scenarios where Lucy was in trouble, with Laxus trying to add conditions along similar themes, rose to the forefront of Natsu's thoughts as he got to his feet.

Conversations floated through Natsu's mind as he frowned while watching the two blonds. Mirajane had proposed that Laxus had a crush on Lucy after each incident where Laxus pulled such a stunt. Worst of all, Mirajane was not the only one who had noticed that Laxus had never tried to demand any conditions for aiding anyone else from the guild. When Lucy was a new member, the topic was hotly discussed by most of the guild until it became just another common feature of guild life. Now it was treated as an ongoing joke Laxus liked to play on Lucy since Laxus made no attempts to spend time with her when he was home.

Such odd behavior from Laxus did not sit well with Natsu. He could not explain why he felt that way. Perhaps Natsu's instincts saw things as Lucy being threatened which was the only way he could even begin to process his reactions when it happened. Then again, Natsu rarely spared much time thinking about anything outside keeping his instincts from escaping his always shaky control. Still, whenever Laxus pulled his strange pranks on Lucy Natsu had a far harder struggle to keep his instincts from exploding.

As Lucy's best friend, Natsu felt Laxus was being an asshole on purpose. Natsu could not understand why Laxus singled Lucy out the way he had. Part of Natsu wished that Laxus would ask Lucy to spend time with him since he kept hammering Lucy with such stupid conditions whenever she needed help. To Natsu, life would be easier If Laxus would simply ask Lucy to be his friend. It made sense that Laxus also wanted to become Lucy's friend. Natsu even believed Lucy would be a great help for Laxus to get over his past.

Still, Natsu's instincts rejected the sight in front of him as he closed on the two. Anger flared in his gut strong enough to startle Natsu. First thing that registered in Natsu's retinas was that both of them were nude. His gut clenched because Natsu knew better than anyone else that Lucy was going to have ongoing fits every time she remembered that none of them had any clothes on. Natsu shuddered because he knew that his ears were going to be ringing, and his head aching until everything got fixed, or they found some clothes to put on.

The second thing Natsu noticed that also irritated him was the way Laxus was holding onto Lucy. Natsu had no idea why Laxus had his arms wrapped around Lucy that way, but it also left him feeling unsettled with what he was seeing as she walked toward them. Part of Natsu felt like he was intruding somewhere he was not wanted. Shaking off that twinge, of inexplicable anger and dread, Natsu trotted over to the pair.

Natsu dropped beside them. "Luce? Are you okay?" With an unexpected surge of irritation, Natsu snarled at Laxus before he could curb the sudden instinctive anger inside himself. "What do you think you're fucking doing, groping Luce like that?"

Laxus snapped at him, "I'm not groping Blondie, Firebrand! I have to hang onto her in order to give her as much of my energy as possible to keep her alive! Why don't you stop jumping to conclusions and get the fucking corpse off her back before it kills her?!"

The angry response sounded reasonable to Natsu. He had heard and seen enough about healing magic from Wendy to accept the Lightning Slayer's answer. Satisfied that nothing out of line was happening, Natsu nodded. Then the second part of Laxus commentary sank into his mind. To see what Laxus was talking about, Natsu leapt to his feet, and suddenly choked as he saw a mostly submerged Aquarius sticking out of Lucy's back. How the hell was he supposed manhandle Lucy's most terrifying spirit without getting the shit beat out of them all?

"I know it's disturbing, but we gotta save Blondie so you gotta pull that off her back!"

"How'd Aquarius get here? Why's she stuck to Luce like this?" Natsu muttered as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

"We don't have time for questions before we get them separated, Flame Brain. Blondie's in serious danger of dying. If we can get Blondie stable, I'll tell you what I figured out about what's happening. We have to work fast, and get Blondie stable or she's going to die. If you got caught in that pitch black nothingness like I did, then you should realize it exists because Blondie's dying."

Natsu tried to keep up with everything Laxus was saying, but he was also fighting to put the pieces together in spite of his instincts writhing and seething just beneath his skin. Considering Natsu's instincts were already raising an unholy alarm about Lucy being in danger, Natsu did want to do all he could for his best friend.

"But, everything turned into this place all of a sudden. I don't know what's going on here." Natsu protested, trying much harder to focus on Laxus words without losing control of his unruly dragon side.

"I'm giving Blondie enough energy to keep her alive. Considering how much she's drawing off of me, my power allowed her to stabilize enough to return part of her vitality and energy which is what this garden represents, Dumb Ass! What do you think those healers were talking about us doing when they used that weird feeling spell to link us to our Guild mate? To save her, we have to work together to undo the damage and give her enough energy to survive this attack that's killing her."

As Natsu listened while holding down his inherent emotion driven, draconic side, everything began to click into place. To save Lucy, Natsu had to deal with Aquarius even if the mean tempered Spirit tried to kill him. Natsu circled behind Lucy, grabbed Aquarius's arm, and gave a couple experimental tugs on the spirit to pull her out of Lucy's back. Part of Natsu expected the mermaid's eyes to open, and her full wrath to fall upon his head because he was yanking on her to wake her up.

A glance at the squatting Laxus, who was holding Lucy tightly against his chest caused another wave of irritation to rise. "You know, I could hold onto her and you could try to get Aquarius free. You're taller than me."

The annoyed expression on Laxus face was accompanied by fast narrowing eyes. "If I could, I would switch places with you to try and rip that corpse off her back. The problem is that you'd probably fry Blondie instead of give her a manageable level energy boost. Plus the rate I'm being drained is frightening."

"I'm so sorry, Laxus, Natsu. You don't have to do this for me. Just let me go." Lucy sounded exhausted as she tried to push them both away verbally.

"Forget it, Luce! You're my best friend and I won't abandon you!" Natsu snarled at Lucy for saying something so stupid.

Laxus sighed and began talking, but Natsu was not sure if it was for his benefit or Lucy's. "We got some visitors right after Gajeel used that spell to knock you out so we could buy enough time to get you healed. The strangers admitted to tampering with some kind of demon trapping seals that your damned Lion spirit helped create several thousand years ago, Blondie. The original seals that keep the damned demon trapped are destabilizing because of the tampering they did to turn certain human bloodlines into automatic repair lacrimas of a sort. The chains stuck to you right now are from the tampering that was done to the seals. Your being sucked dry of your magic and life force at a rate to keep that fucking demon locked away. The tampering that the newcomers did to make the prison stronger is putting your life at risk for some reason. The fact that Loke knows, but doesn't trust the Fairies in that party is also worrisome. But right now, I do know that if you die, some really bad ass demon that destroyed all but a small chink of a continent will be free to destroy Fiore at an insane pace if we can't save you."

Lucy whipped her head up and around to look at Laxus. "No way! Are you messing with me?"

Laxus' expression shifted to genuine anger. "How the fuck could I come up with such a ridiculous story on my own, Blondie? You're from the Orion bloodline according to those damned Fairies. They claimed to have come out of a Time Suspension spell to stop the demon they call Abyss Lord from getting free. You're the key to releasing the damned demon but nobody knew it until now. The reason for all the Dark Guild attacks on you is because of those bastards making your ancestors into the power source that feeds the prison and repairs it."

"Why would anyone do something so horrible?" Lucy whispered as the fresh scent of tears began filtering into Natsu's nose.

Laxus looked like it hurt him to answer. He pulled Lucy's head flush against his chest. "You're guess is as good as mine, Blondie. But they already verified that you're illness is because of what they did, and Loke said they were telling the truth."

As Lucy cried even harder, Laxus looked up at him over Lucy's head. Laxus had a look on his face that gave Natsu the shivers. Instincts warned Natsu to keep his mouth shut. However, a part of Natsu's dragon senses fought even harder to break free over being replaced as Lucy's comforter. Taking a deep breath, Laxus continued to hold Lucy as if trying to figure out what to do with her.

"Calm down, Luce. I'll get you out of this mess, same as always. You know I'll make sure you're safe." Natsu shifted his stance in preparation to drag Aquarius' carcass out of Lucy's back as his determination to keep his promise solidified.

Natsu knew it had always been his job to protect Lucy since he brought her to the Guild. Laxus was never going to take that position away from him because the Lightning Slayer would go right back to the Thunder Legion once this was over. Lucy would come to him to cry as always after they got her out of danger. If Laxus was trapped because of giving Lucy life sustaining energy, then Natsu needed to fight off, and deal with, the rest of the threat so they could get things back to normal. As he soothed the Dragon half, Natsu gave a much harder tug on the Mermaid's arm with no results. It was worrisome that Aquarius was not budging. Despite his qualms, Natsu decided to use all of his strength with the next pull. It would probably hurt Lucy a lot, but Laxus was right that they could not leave Aquarius stuck in Lucy's body.

Natsu heard Lucy sniffling and looked over in time to see her twisting her upper body inside Laxus hold to look at him. The bright pink flush and wide eyed look on her face warned Lucy to brace for her ear splitting scream. What Natsu had not expected was how fast Lucy's face whipped back toward Laxus' chest.

"Natsu, you pervert! Where the hell are your clothes? It's bad enough Gray strips all the time, but I expect better from you! How dare you copy Gray?"

"I'm not copying that stupid stripper! You're just as naked as me and Laxus, Luce! Damn, you're such a weirdo at times!" Natsu yelled and yanked back hard on Aquarius' arm to vent the strange annoyance he felt over the situation.

Natsu knew Lucy would have a melt down. Nudity always ended with Lucy losing her temper and panicking. It was the one thing Natsu would never understand. Why Lucy thought it was such a big problem was beyond comprehension. Everyone had a body so her freak outs seemed too extreme to him. It was not as if Natsu thought there was anything wrong with Lucy's body. If anything, Natsu thought Lucy should be happy with her body. Although he would never mention it, Natsu had seen plenty of men watch his best friend walking around during their missions. A number of Mayors had even made a point of discussing the mission with Lucy so they could try to hide the fact they were staring at her chest. Yet as a dark aura surrounded Lucy and Aquarius, she tried to cover her breasts with her arms began screaming. Natsu found himself wincing, but was grateful that Laxus was strong enough to keep Lucy from getting up and kicking them both into the stratosphere.

"Don't look at me you perverts! Where're my clothes? You two better get dressed right now! This isn't funny!"

Laxus spoke in his most commanding voice. "Shut it, Blondie! We're inside your mind so we can't do a damned thing about not wearing any clothes in your territory. We're probably naked because that's what some part of your own brain wants to see. Furthermore, we didn't know when we agreed to shore up your life force to save you that this would happen. The Fairies cast some spell that is supposed to strengthen your life force by using our energy. So if being naked bugs you so much, figure out how to make clothes for us all to wear!"

Laxus words caught the sum of Natsu's attention and it sank into him faster than most things. For several seconds the dragon side went completely still which was very rare. IT was true that he was at a loss about what to expect, but that was something Natsu was used t feeling. Winging it was Natsu's trademark since he did not have the luxury of thinking too deeply if he wanted to keep his dragon under control. Letting Lucy or even Erza do the thinking worked best for Natsu, so he was happier working in a team.

"Don't you dare blame this on me, Jerk! Let me go, Idiot! I can't believe you'd take advantage of me like this! No way am I responsible for your perverted thoughts!"

Lucy began fighting to break out of Laxus embrace and part of Natsu could not help being happy about her determined struggle. Still, Laxus said it was the only way he could keep Lucy alive by giving her energy so Natsu found himself ready to yell at her to be still.

Laxus snapped at Lucy before Natsu could open his mouth. The Lightning Slayer's muscular arms visibly tensed with handling Lucy's strength. "Shut up, be still, and listen, Blondie! If I let go of you, you're going to be drained to the point that you're life will be in danger a second time. We volunteered to give you energy so you won't die while everyone else figures out how to break these chains that are killing you! None of this is a big deal, so knock it off with the panicking prude act. You're being hysterical without any reason. Although, can't say I blame you for being freaked out looking at everything your dealing with right now."

"What are you saying, Laxus?" Lucy demanded as Natsu caught her profile, which looked very irate.

"I doubt anyone realizes that you've got what looks like a very dead spirit stuck in here with you, Blondie. So calm down and let us save you without fighting us!" Laxus growled as he stared Lucy down.

In classic Lucy style, Natsu glimpsed his best friend lifting her chin in defiance and a healthy dose of embarrassment considering how red her cheek looked. The smell of new tears hit Natsu's nose. "Don't call me Blondie when you're just as blond as me, Laxus! I have a name and I'd appreciate it if you used it. As to Aquarius, I deserve a lot worse punishment because I betrayed her when I broke her key to summon the Celestial King. Doesn't matter that she told me to do it. I should have asked her what would happen to her before doing it." Lucy gave Laxus a lecture in her scariest level quiet voice.

Natsu knew that voice all too well. Lucy screaming was safer than Lucy hissing any day. When Lucy stopped screaming, it meant that she was at her most plotting nad devious. Laxus was not going to enjoy being alive once Lucy got her revenge.

"Tch . . . Stop blaming yourself over this bullshit. Although, I gotta admit you have a rare talent for getting yourself into trouble, . . . you're stuck with me and Fire Breath until these damned astral chains are gone. After we're through with this mission, you can go back to hating me to your little heart's content, Cosplayer."

The hold Laxus had on Lucy was good enough to keep Lucy in place Natsu figured as he planted his legs in the right position and leaned at the right angle to give a solid heave ho to Aquarius. Natsu knew it was possible he would break the Spirit's arm, So he changed his hold on the Mermaid to get a grip behind the neck, angled between her shoulder blades. Natsu yanked Aquarius toward his torso with all his weight backing the motion as Laxus was arguing with Lucy. What Natsu had not counted on was Aquarius' and her damned hard urn slamming into him as such speed. Trying to brace on his back leg, Natsu was being bent backward and found himself falling over under all the unexpected weight that was bearing him down. A very short shriek from Lucy was all the warning Natsu got that something had gone wrong before he was landing in the grass with his breath knocked out of his lungs. The first thing Natsu heard was Lucy spluttering incoherent noises.

Natsu could see spiky blond hair so realized that Lucy and Laxus had been yanked into him when he used his real strength to get Aquarius out of Lucy's body. "Get off me and Luce! You're way too freaking heavy, Bastard!" Natsu snapped with what little air he ws able to get into his lungs.

"Give me a damned second, Lame Brain! I had to get my arm free since it got trapped between Blondie and the damned corpse." Laxus answered in a foul sounding tone.

"Really is a pity that such a gorgeous, smoking hot body belongs to a damned fuddy-duddy personality. I'd love to break Lucy out of playing little miss nice girl all the time. Talk about a complete waste of one incredibly sexy body! If there is a god out there, I bet he totally hates me because this kind of irony is downright cruel." Natsu heard Laxus say.

"I'm going to kill you for saying something like that about Luce, Lightning Rod!" Natsu snarled as a flame shot from his mouth. "Apologize to Luce right now, or so help me I'm going to beat an apology out of you!"

"Huh? Laxus didn't say anything, Natsu." Lucy answered him as she and Aquarius were pulled off of him, and right back into Laxus arms which wrapped around her. Natsu rushed back onto his feet. Lucy was giving him an odd look like he had lost his mind while biting her lower lip.

"I heard him, Luce!" Natsu could not stop the flames from erupting around his fists.

If Laxus thought he could insult Lucy like that, then he had another think coming the dragon half seemed to be saying although it had no words per say. Natsu simply knew without words that Laxus was crossing the wrong line and was not going to stand by and let Lucy get hurt by the pervert.

It did not escape Natsu that Laxus moved his body to shield Lucy as if he believed she was in danger. Before Natsu could launch an attack, Laxus expression turned dangerous and the man growled a soft and deep resonant animal sound that ended in words. "Are you seriously trying to kill Blondie, Dumb Ass? Have you already forgotten that we're magically linked into her right now? Any careless moves with our magic could do irreparable damage to her body or her mind. No matter how many healers are working to save her on the outside right now, if either one of us lose control of our power, she won't make it out of this mess alive."

The flames evaporated as Laxus words hit Natsu below the belt. It felt as if Laxus was plotting something underhanded to Natsu, but he could not deny that the Lightning Slayer did have a valid point. If his magic went out of control, Lucy could die since Laxus was sincerely convinced that they were somehow inside her body.

Natsu decided to fight back with words instead of fists. "I don't get you, Laxus. What's your problem with Lucy being herself? And why do you think we're somehow inside Lucy when she's right there in front of us, with you pawing her no less?"

"I am not pawing Blondie, you Jackass. And if you ever tried listening when people are talking, you'd already realize what's happening. Your biggest problem is your refusal to sit still long enough to pay attention to the things people say, Salamander." The arrogance and borderline disgust in Laxus voice were palpable.

"That's Lucy's job because she's good at solving puzzles and that kind of stuff. I'm the brute strength in our team. Lucy figures out the weirder parts of all our missions because she's really good at it. I'd bet Luce can figure things out faster than you, Laxus." If there was one thing Natsu knew, it was that Lucy deserved every drop of credit for her brains.

Unlike Laxus, Natsu had no problem with Lucy's lack of physical strength, or her reliance upon her spirit friends. Lucy was one of the smartest mages Natsu had the pleasure to know and he saw no reason to deny her value. Being on the same team had increased Natsu's respect for Lucy a hundred fold over several years time. It was Lucy's greatest strength which Laxus knew nothing about that would swing the argument in Natsu's favor.

"Wait a minute, Natsu! I don't even know how I got here, or why you two are here, or where these crazy things attached to me came from. The last thing I remember was sending you to get Wendy because I could barely breathe since it felt like I was being crushed from the inside."

Natsu watched as Laxus pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Well I'll look forward to Blondie getting into the S class soon. As to what has been happening I can fill you in on the details any time."

"I'm sure I'll make it before Luce because I'm a lot stronger." Natsu snapped at the bigger Dragon Slayer.

Laxus gave him an icy glare as a few sparks of lightning slipped out of the man's control. "You're wrong if you think brute strength alone will cut it, Idiot. Gramps said Lucy did a great job of figuring out the clues he gave at the test several years ago, so I believe she'll have what it takes if she improves her basic combat skills to get rid of that specific weakness. Above all else, S class requires leadership, listening, and thinking skills, Flame Thrower. I've done many S class missions. Not one of my missions has ever been solely about demonstrating brute magical strength, and winning fights through guts and stamina alone. Many S class jobs require me to uncover clues and answer riddles. I'd say the percentage requiring brains over brawn is over sixty percent. Fail the mental test, and no amount of brute strength and raw power will ever get you into the S class ranks. As much as I like your eagerness to tackle any problem, Natsu, you lack the most important ingredient for being an S class mage. If you can't pay attention long enough to notice the clues, you'll never be able to solve the majority of S class cases."

As unwelcome as Laxus hard lecture was, Natsu did recall gramps making them do some kind of clue related search for Master Mavis' grave when they were taking the S class exams right before the dark guild, Zeref, and then Acnologia arrived. Things Gildarts had told Natsu during their fight also rose to the fore. Laxus was not alone in reminding Natsu that he did need to find a way to keep the dragon under control, and think things through despite how hard it was for him to do both at the same time. Natsu collapsed onto his knees as his heart sank. One of his bigger dreams was becoming an S class mage so that Igneel would have plenty of reason to be proud of him when they met again. It was all his dragon side's fault for making Natsu's instincts so hard to keep in line. If not for the overwhelming emotions and impulses coming from the dragon side, Natsu knew he would be able to free up his thoughts for other things.

"Can't get Aquarius off of Luce unless I burn her off. But if it will hurt Luce, I can't risk it." Natsu grumbled while glaring at the offending Spirit that had decided to get stuck to his best friend's back. If his fire hurt Lucy, Natsu would hate himself for as long as he lived. Killing Lucy was a very real possibility, even if there weren't all the other weird parts to try and keep track of in getting Lucy back to safety. Natsu hated having to admit that he was not going to be able to save Lucy without lots of help. Unfortunately, he had to let Laxus take the credit for finding a working solution and the knowledge really annoyed his dragon.

"Glad you realized something that important on your own. If you hadn't, I'd be knocking you out for Blondie's safety, Natsu. Now we know that we won't be able to detach the spirit from Blondie by using brute force. So I'll have to figure out another way to safely separate them. I don't know more than the rudimentary stuff about Celestial Magic so it's going to take me some time to come up with a working plan. I'm a lot more worried about how the urn and the chains are taking so much of Blondie's magic and life force away from her. The two draining elements may kill her if we can't reverse at least one of these power flows." Natsu gritted his teeth to keep himself from losing control of his simmering anger over Laxus superior tone.

"What do you know about what's happening to me, Laxus?" Lucy asked as Laxus .

Although Natsu caught Lucy's newest attempt to get space between herself and LAxus, he also saw Laxus wrapping his arm firmly around her shoulders as he drug them both into a sitting position where they were facing him. The dragon giggled over Lucy's somewhat embarrassed expression as she was given no choice but th settle into Laxus' lap. Lucy hated getting bossed around and Natsu found himself anticipating the severe retaliation Lucy would extract from Laxus hide once she was safe and healthy again.

"Stop struggling. I'm only doing this to keep you stable so quit acting like a pain in the ass. I have to touch you to keep my magic flow regulated, Blondie. Trying to do this without contact means I could electrocute you by accident." Laxus complained.

Although it was partially true, Natsu's dragon senses heard the undertone that implied Laxus was only being half truthful. It was that specific undertone that continued to irritate Natsu's nerves about the ongoing odd conditions demanded by Laxus when things got dicey for Lucy.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that before you'll open your own ears and listen, Sparky?" Lucy whacked Laxus on the thigh as she yelled at him.

"Do you really prefer getting called Cosplayer then?" Natsu heard the amusement lacing Laxus voice as he threw Bickslow's favorite, if insulting, nickname in Lucy's face. It was becoming clear to Natsu that Laxus enjoyed making Lucy mad.

Lucy gave Laxus one of her meanest demonic glares and punched him in the chest. "Oh you are such an arrogant ass, Laxus Dreyer! I swear you do that to make me mad on purpose."

Laxus smirked at Lucy. "Sorry, I can't help picking on you in good fun, Lucy. You're way too funny when you overreact."

Natsu watched as Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at something behind his shoulder. Soon Lucy tried to get free of Laxus hold by leaning forward but overbalancing as Aquarius flopped forward, and the urn shifted over Lucy's blond head. "Uhm, what's that?"

Natsu did have to give Laxus credit when he saved Lucy from falling on her face, and even steadied Lucy's body. Once she was stable, Lucy pointed at something to the side and behind him, so Natsu twisted his upper body to see what Lucy had noticed. Natsu was startled by the fond memory that was playing out on the edge of the garden where this place seemed to end without warning.

The happy memory inspired Natsu to leap to his feet. "Wow! I remember that day. Igneel was making me break boulders to teach me how to focus my fire and spirit strength into my fists. I really do miss dad. Maybe Gajeel's dragon is right, and I'll get to see Igneel soon."

"Oy, Blondie, what the fuck are you doing now?" Laxus harsh tone had Natsu whipping his head back to make sure Lucy was still safe.

"Sorry, Laxus, but Natsu's memories aren't the only one's appearing. Looks like yours are also." Lucy said as she shifted onto her knees, putting her naked breasts too close to Laxus face for Natsu's comfort. Natsu frowned but followed Lucy's lead as she looked over Laxus shoulder.

Even though Natsu was familiar with the story of how Laxus had gotten his Slayer powers, he had never considered how horrible the process was. Natsu froze as he watched Ivan, Laxus crazy, evil, and very power mad father holding a gemstone in one hand. The maniacal look in Laxus' father's eyes as he was leaning closer with magic sparking upon his fingers had Natsu instinctively leaning back.

"Why is one of my most horrible memories showing up inside Blondie's head like this? So are Natsu's memories for that matter. What the hell is going on here? Nobody mentioned anything like this happening when I volunteered to help Blondie by sharing my power with her. Don't recall ever reading or hearing about any magic that has this kind of effect. What the hell did those bastards do to us?" Laxus uneasy voice hit Nantsu's ears at the same moment the image of magic was slamming into Natsu's right eye without any way to escape.

"Are you alright, Laxus?"Lucy's voce held real concern, and Natsu discovered that the dragon had again frozen in place, freeing him to consider what he had witnessed.

"Fine, blondie. Just trying to figure out what the hell is happening. I've never heard of magic that has so many oddities to it" Without missing a beat, Laxus answered, although he was looking a bit pale.

"I've heard that some branches of ancient magic had really strange side effects. It was the side effects that convinced Mages to stop using it in the long run," Lucy answered as she tried to help Laxus as far as Natsu could tell. Running his hand through his spiky hair, Natsu felt he had a little better understanding of Laxus nastier moments at least. A glance behind the other Slayer showed that Laxus had a lot of unpleasant memories. Natsu was suddenly grateful that he had not been cursed with such a cruel parent.

"Could be. Considering it seems we are dealing with real Fairies and they have been extinct for a long time, I can only guess that their magic has an adverse effect on humans at this point." Laxus pointed out as his expression became more focused.

"Then why did you and Natsu volunteer to get stuck inside my mind like this?" Lucy asked with a stern, worried expression marring her features.

"I've already told you that we're keeping you alive while the rest of our Guild figures out how to save your life. Fairy Tail Mages don't abandon out own when they're in trouble and you damned well know it, Blondie." Laxus growled the familiar refrain of Fairy Tail's values which actually gave Natsu a reason to smile.

"Look, let's focus on how we can get rid of the chains and the Spirit that's attached to you for now. We need to keep our priorities straight, Lucy. Same goes for you too, Natsu. Stop spacing out and let's get things fixed on this end so we can all wake up."

Natsu smacked his fists together with his trademark grin in place to show LAxus that he was on board with getting things done. "Sure. Tell me what needs to get done and you can count on me."

Laxus rolled his eyes at him, but Natsu did not mind the familiar mild annoyance look. Lucy was in trouble and they needed to work together to get her safe. Although his dragon was still a bit surly, Natsu knew that so long as he did not have to figure out the plan that he could restrain the irritation he felt., His dragon half was always calmer when he was around Lucy, so that knowledge gave Natsu extra reasons to trust Laxus to figure out the steps. Natsu did not mind following the lder Slayer's lead so long as Lucy benefitted.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry this took so long to post. COMPUTER VIRUS MAKERS REALLY SUCK! At least I got rid of the virus and all the problems it was causing so I can write again. Thanks going out to those few wonderful people who have Faved, Followed or given me Reviews. I can only hope that people are still enjoying this story. Please drop a line to let me know how I am doing with this new genre dip. To be honest, I'm not at all certain if I am doing the Fantasy genre writing correctly. Hope everyone likes this new installment. ~~~ooo0ooo~~~ separates 2 POV's and scenes.

CHAPTER 11

Staring at the dark stone throne sitting in the middle of a cave, Ikaruga wondered what her clients thought to achieve. As a member of Death's Head Caucus, it was not unusual to get hired to assassinate someone. However, of all the places she had met clients, this was the first time she met someone in a weird cave that made her skin craw with dark magic buildup. The torch lighting was abysmal as the group wanting to hire her seemed too cheap to insure they could see where they were going. The silent, robe shrouded, mask wearing crowd was nothing short of stupid looking in Ikaruga's opinion. It was as if the client thought to intimidate her, and Ikaruga was almost amused. The most intimidating people put on the friendly act, so this act was a complete failure.

If they wanted someone dead, that was perfect since killing was Ikaruga's forte. Still, she thought it was rather asinine of the client to try playing games with her head. Little bothered her beyond the fleeting moments where she recalled her battle with Erza Scarlet, and the painful reality of losing to Titania. All of her old team had lost to Fairy Tail Mages. Now that Ikaruga had found new talent, she had no reason to worry about that guild ever again. Getting stronger was part of the trade, and Ikaruga had gotten far stronger in the years since she last tasted humiliation. Having escaped the Tower of Heaven, Ikaruga had vowed to be the best, and now felt she had earned the title.

Another group of weirdos entered the large natural cavern. Three of them walked to the throne area. With a wave of a hand, the one who was in charge magically lit a couple torches behind the throne and sat down. Everyone but Ikaruga prostrated themselves on the ground. "I am pleased to see you have arrived, Assassin."

"Of course, this is business after all. So care to share the details so I can get to work?" Ikaruga responded.

A weird hissing laugh escaped the shadowed man's lips. "A very cocky attitude. Can you back your arrogance little girl?"

"Arrogance has nothing to do with this, but if you wish a demonstration, so be it."

The shrouded man snapped his fingers. A large, muscular man was dragged into the room by four others who relied heavily upon the chains attached to their captive. A weapon was thrust into his hands. All of the occupants of the room backed away to make a ring as various magical seals formed to insure only Ikaruga and the captive were unprotected.

"Show me your merit, Woman." The sibilant demand was not unexpected.

With a nod, Ikaruga watched the man, hand on her sword's hilt. She did not bother to draw as it was not her style. The captive tried to slash at his abductors, but barrier magic prevented the blade from making contact.

"If you wish your freedom, I suggest you fight for it." The leader of the group prodded the man into action.

Angry eyes turned to Ikaruga. The man knew how to use a sword, but did he have the necessary speed and limberness needed to be an actual challenge? A deep growl was emitted from the desperate man's throat, followed by his lunge. In a flash, Ikaruga slipped to the side and dashed forward, sword sliding from it's sheath, slicing deep, and returning to it's place. A single perfected movement that few could see with their eyes. Turning once the smell of blood began to taint the air, Ikaruga enjoyed the meaty thud and the quiet gasps of some of the room's occupants.

"I am a killer and I know how to do my job well. If not, Master would not have sent me. Death's Head Caucus is the best for a reason."

"True. Considering your display of prowess, I will grant you this duty on one condition. The reward is five million jewels, five hundred thousand up front for your travel and lodging expenses, and the balance when you bring me the targets."

Ikaruga nodded her head. "So who are the targets, and what is the condition?"

The targets are two Celestial Spirit Mages, Lucy Heartfilia, of Fairy Tail guild, and Yukino Aguria of Sabertooth. However, Heartfilia is by far the most important target. Heartfilia must be brought here alive so that I may personally see her die within fifteen days. I'll even increase your reward for capturing and bringing me Heartfilia specifically."

"Sounds amusing considering I am an assassin, not a kidnapper. Why hire someone like me if you want them alive?"

"To remove any protectors they have requires a true killer. You're payment is to kill their prospective bodyguards, and insure that I receive the little bitches."

"So where shall I meet you to deliver Heartfilia and Aguria once I capture them?" Ikaruga asked with savage joy rising in her breast.

Vengeance was a true bitch best served very cold. Getting the opportunity to hurt Erza Scarlet was icing on the cake to Ikaruga's thinking. To kill the Titania, one of Heartfilia's closest companions, made the job irresistibly.

"Someone will be waiting at Hogs Head Inn, the same as this time." A hefty bag was tossed from the dias. "As soon as you are escorted from this holy temple, child, do begin seeking the wenches. I have need of them as ingredients. You can do whatever you like to them, so long as they are alive, and still contain all of their blood."

"Interesting. Time for me to get to work."

Ikaruga allowed herself to be blindfolded a second time. She lost track of the twists, turns, and echoing footfalls, yet did not care as much as she normally would about this kind of paranoid precaution. The chance to break Erza Scarlet was far to delightful to pass up. Although Ikaruga preferred to kill her targets wherever she found them, the kidnaping scenario was even sweeter because it would drive Titania into despair. Drive Titania to despair and she would make a fatal mistake. Ikaruga began pondering the best way to steal the weak little bimbo and make Erza Scarlet taste the bitterness of despair. Life was becoming quite delightful of late in Ikaruga's opinion. Her silent guide spoke for the first time. "We are at the carriage. Please step up, Ikaruga san."

"With little difficulty, Ikaruga found the step and complied. Soon she was swaying and jostling as the carriage moved. Remaining calm in the face of such strange tactics had become second nature. If nothing else, the paranoid often paid higher prices for murder. It was yet another fact of life. However, Ikaruga knew this group was not the average paranoid rich person trying to kill off their stiffest competition. As Ikaruga considered the fact that this group wanted Heartfilia as an ingredient, along with Aguria, she considered the benefits of finding an abduction expert to insure the job went off without a hitch. The offer of a larger pay off if Heartfilia was in good shape was a perk that Ikaruga wanted to capitalize upon if at all possible.

~~~ooo0ooo~~~

It was not everyday that the Fiore Royal Family visited any guild, much less a Magical Guild with the notoriety of Fairy Tail. Having the pleasure of showing King Toma Fiore and Princess Hisui around Fairy Tail fell upon Makarov's shoulders. With the Guild's most destructive mages out of the way, Makarov could breathe much easier. Although Makarov hated that Natsu was unconscious within the infirmary, it was for the best. With a swelling of pride, Master Makarov watched Mirajane and Kinana outdoing themselves with the food they were busy laying out on long tables. Most of his children were being on their best behavior, and showing respect which was a great relief. Mirajane had promised to make a feast worthy of the Royal family, their guards, and the Guild members, and she had delivered.

"You have a beautiful guild here, Makarov. Although I must say that seeing real Centaurs is most startling. I always thought they were simple folk lore to be honest." Toma said as he watched the feast being set out in his family's honor.

"Yes. I think everyone rather startled when the Centaurs and genuine Fairies came through the Space Suspension Gate to help save our Celestial Spirit Mage, Lucy Heartfilia, Your Majesty. You're very generous in your praise of our humble guild also. Now, I'm sure you must be tired from your long journey. So, please enjoy the hospitality of our Guild, and relax for a bit. After you've finished eating, and resting, I'll explain everything we've learned about the possible crisis to come."

"How about explaining things while we eat together. I would not be here if I did not think things were rather dangerous for my country, Makarov." The King responded with a calm, yet commanding tone.

"Of course, Majesty. I'm here to serve in any way I can. However, I was hoping to wait until Sabertooth's Guild Master and Celestial Mage arrive. They need to listen to what is happening. Their Celestial Spirit Mage will also be targeted by the Dark Guilds just like Lucy has been." Makarov answered.

"I see. I was not aware that you had also invited Master Eucliffe to join us. Very well, I would still like a bit of basic information, and we can go over the in depth version once Master Sting and his Celestial Spirit Mage arrives." Toma nodded as he took a seat at the table.

Makarov was quick to see that the Princess was also seated next to her father before bowing. "I need to get a couple people who you will also wish to speak with since they know far more than I do. They've actually fought the demon in question. In fact, they are also the reason I sent you the emergency message. So if you'll excuse me for a moment."

"By all means, please bring them over to dine with us, Master Makarov." Toma gave his consent before turning to accept a glass from Mirajane.

With deceptive speed, Makarov headed toward the Ancient's corner of the guild. Picking up a large Translation Lacrima on the way, he motioned for Loke and Vraylinish to follow him back to the banquet area. Stepping up to the table again, Makarov began introducing everyone. "Your Majesty, this is Vraylinish, the Sacred Saint, and leader of the Ancient Bane Warriors who helped stop the Abyss Lord from getting free a few days ago. Vraylinish was also one of the warriors who first helped to seal the Abyss Lord."

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Vraylinish." The King intoned.

Before Makarov could continue, Princess Hisui addressed Loke. "Why are you here, Leo sama? I don't see Miss Lucy anywhere."

"Lucy's upstairs in the infirmary alongside two of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers who are magically attached to her to stabilize her life force, Your Highness. I opened my own gate so I can monitor my master's health on behalf of the Celestial King."

"Infirmary? I don't recall seeing any infirmary." The King spoke up with a frown.

Makarov interjected before things could get further sidetracked. "Ah, well, Majesty, the healers won't allow anyone to enter the room. One of the Ancients and our Guild's strongest telpath, Warren Rocko, are working on a mental link to determine how our three companions are faring so we all have a better idea of how long until they awaken."

Princess Hisui and the King both nodded their understanding. "Please have a seat and join us. We have much to discuss." Toma waved to the bench beside his position.

After they were all seated with the rest of the Royal family's guards filling the next table over, Makarov nodded and Kinana and Mirajane set plates in front of everyone. Once they were finished setting down food laden dishes, and the King had thanked Fairy Tail's twin servers, Makarov started to speak in a somber, yet clear voice. "We learned about a curse that was lain on specific bloodlines who are decedents of Star Singers. Several of us witnessed the curse first hand three days ago, Your Majesty. The curse is doing all it possibly can to kill our Lucy Heartfilia."

"So your message said. I also understand that you've had dragons visiting you. Is this correct?" The King asked as he cut off a bite of meat.

"Yes, Majesty. Gajeel's dragon, Metalicana, brought us the initial warning, and used his magic to slow the curse on Lucy until the Ancients could arrive. He and Ancient Queen Sertatsie are staying near Natsu Dragneel's place since it has a large field for them to nest in. Unfortunately, someone attacked Lucy using a spell we've never imagined could exist. It was a foul spell meant to rip Lucy apart physically, and failing to kill her body, it would rip her soul from her body to kill her that way. It came far to close to succeeding. If not for Natsu and my Grandson agreeing to be the two shoring up her life force, Lucy would be dead and the Abyss Lord would be free right now."

"But why is Lucy Heartfilia th key to it's release?" Princess Hisui asked

Vraylinish snorted and thumped her hands on the heavy wooden table top. "The woman has five Astral Star Chains connected to her soul seat. She is one of the strongest Star Singers ever born to the Orion lineage. No human should be able to sustain and repair that many chains with instinctive magic, but that woman has been maintaining multiple Astral Chains throughout her life. The fact that she has always ben able to summon any spirits at all means in truth the woman is probably stronger than myself, and that is saying something since I've broken mountains down to their foundations during battles with demons."

Loke nodded, and began speaking in a thoughtful tone. "True. The thing that confuses me is why Metalicana and Sertatsie are so worried about Princess Hisui the way they are. Princess Hisui doesn't have a single Celestial Spirit contract. She specializes in making objects that can help us, but has never once opened a gate."

Makarov watched as Vraylinish glared at the Celestial Spirit. "Senility has set in because of being so ancient, hasn't it, Reagaltiel?"

The furious glare Loke shot the woman did not escape Makarov's notice. "I'm Loke. Reagaltiel died that day. Just because the star Phoenix decided to make me look like him doesn't mean I'm the same person, Sacred Saint."

"Then why has it not yet crossed your mind that she might be unable to open gates because of having multiple chains on her also? As I understand things from Metalicana and the other dragons that yet live, the Royal house is tied to Orion."

The color drained from Loke's face as her accented words slapped him. "You think she has multiple chains on her too?"

"Most likely. I doubt as many as your Lucy upstairs. Three would consume the life from most very powerful mages in a matter of a few months normally. Also the chains tend to gravitate to women as they have a stronger creation facet than men magic wise." Vraylinish answered before her lips pursed. "Only way to determine if she does have multiple chains is to have Zayden and Skuhldra reveal them."

"No way are you letting that little Fairy bitch anywhere near the Royal Family. She can't be trusted and you know it." Loke snarled coming halfway off his bench seat.

"You seem to forget that I'm the one Skuhldra fears most. I'm capable of ripping her wings off and she knows I won't hesitate if she screws up." Vraylinish answered with a blood thirsty smile.

The King coughed a couple of times and took a drink from his glass. "Good heavens. Why ever would you say something like that about your own allies, my Lady?"

"Because, it would be the perfect payback for her since she ripped my wings off my back when I was a small child. Fairy Wings allow pure bloods or half breeds like myself to absorb energy from our surroundings. In other words, immortal as they are, rip their wings off and you cripple a fair amount of their power, Fiore King." Vraylinish spoke the brutal words with a guttural inflection.

Loke sighed as Makarov's eyes widened over the hard toned words. The fact that the woman would contemplate such actions made Makarov uneasy. To say that the Ancients must have lived brutal lives was an understatement Makarov realized as he watched their leader.

Loke spoke up. "It was a standard practice thousands of years ago. The goal was to cripple the Fairy race's power because of their immortality and overwhelming power. Only the Fairy race thought it more important to amuse themselves than to treat the other races with dignity. You could say that Fairies brought their demise upon their own heads because of how cruel they became due to their boredom."

Princess Hisui tapped her chin. "I always thought that Fairies were tiny little beings, no larger than birds. I must admit the ones here are far larger than I ever expected. It is a shame since I have read beautiful stories of the small folk."

"Pictasey Clan Fairies are probably the ones you have knowledge of if the knowledge concerns matters of plants and flowers. They are very small beings who love all plants and wild things. Humans were always fond of them, while bitterly despising every other Fairy Clan." Vraylinish explained.

Makarov saw the confusion that the Royals could not hide. It was to be expected since even he had found it hard to understand three days before. If not for Loke explaining things to himself, and the Guild, Makarov knew they would still be in the same position.

Clearing his throat, Makarov spoke. "I was just as confused as yourself, Your Highness. It seems that most of the larger sized clans were considered demons. It's a pity we have lost so much of the ancient knowledge. At least Levi chan is learning all she can about the history we have lost."

Loke chuckled. "Levi does enjoy learning all that she can."

A weird whistling snort from the Ancient's area had Makarov and the rest twisting to see what was happening. The Centaurs were again displaying mild agitation. "Is it the second group you noticed earlier?" Vraylinish demanded.

The answer was in the ancient tongue so Makarov turned to look at the frowning woman who was seated beside him. "Five are heading toward your guild, Makarov. How do you wish to proceed?"

"Hhhhmmmmm." Makarov hummed as he considered the implications. It was possible that Sting had brought extra people with him. "Let's wait and see if it is Sting's group. I did warn hm that his Celestial Spirit Mage might be targeted like Lucy has been, so five people would be a reasonable number for security reasons."

Vraylinish nodded and made several hand gestures. The Centaurs all bowed at the waist and crossed their arms over their chests in unison as they lifted their torsos to stand tall. Not one of them returned to laying down which told Makarov that their Sacred Saint had told them to remain alert, but to act non threatening.

"I do hope it is Sabertooth's young Master. This waiting is rather irritating if Fiore is in danger." King Toma grumbled from his place at the head of the table. As if Mirajane had been summoned from thin air, she stepped up to the King's side and whisked away his cleared plate. A lovely looking dessert took it's place. Distracted by the sweet, King Toma smiled. "At least I am enjoying this fine meal while we wait. You have an excellent chef, Makarov kun."

With those words, King Toma E Fiore dug into his dessert.

~~oo0oo~~


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for the newest reviews, faves, and follows. In response to reviews: "Aquarius' death" is not what it seems. What is happening will get revealed, so please have patience because the characters don't know yet. I promise to squeeze out some more time if possible for writing this story. Consider it a mystery for the moment and enjoy the angsty hijinks if possible. I'm posting chapters as fast as I can get them typed out.

CHAPTER 12

Never before had Lucy felt so overwhelmed and useless. Her emotions seesawed between embarrassment, mortification, annoyance, determination, sorrow, worry, love, gratitude, appreciation, determination, anger, fear, defencelessness, depression, lust, and horror. So many sentiments overwhelmed Lucy's mind without rhyme or reason. Unable to figure out what was happening made it impossible to calm down. Exhaustion was eating away at what little mental clarity Lucy still retained. Disquieted by her horrible situation, and being manhandled by Laxus and Natsu, plus nude, did not make things easier. Not for the first time, Lucy desperately wished she was dressed, and alone.

Images of all their pasts continued to flow around them much to Lucy's mortification. Seeing how different her life was from both of theirs only made Lucy feel worse. Laxus had a much rougher and abusive childhood, while Natsu had many sweet memories of childhood that were cut off without warning. All Lucy had to complain about was how her father ignored her, and the obnoxious hours of constant etiquette training drummed into her head. Her world had consisted of non stop education on how to behave and become an asset for some rich man her father chose to pick for her. Tutor after tutor, and dance class after dance class, mathematics and business comprehension was the sum of everything thrust down Lucy's young throat after her mother died. Only bath time, when Lucy summoned Aquarius for a chance to talk about something other than expectations for her future, had given Lucy any relief from the dreary hours of study. Compared to what Laxus survived, Lucy felt she had little reason to grumble.

The Lightning Slayer was adamant that she was not allowed to leave his lap despite how it increased Lucy's discomfort since Laxus was also naked. The things she had seen so far about his life had Lucy biting her tongue to not throw a fit. Laxus said that staying in his lap was necessary so he would not zap her while sharing his energy. However, Lucy was hearing things that implied other things were on the man's mind, which made no sense. Not sure why she was imagining that Laxus was attracted to her, Lucy wanted to curl into a ball because she was being delusional due to exhaustion. Her fertile imagination was running away with her Lucy reminded herself like a mantra. However, the odd part was how genuine the voice in her head sounded. Several times Lucy thought she heard Laxus speak aloud.

Then there was Natsu, who was leaning against her other shoulder, sulking. As Lucy's best friend, it was hard to see how upset Natsu was over being unable to pry Aquarius off her back. The pair of men were both far too bristly towards each other which only added to Lucy's unease. Gone was the normal, happy go lucky Natsu that Lucy knew. It felt as if Natsu was replaced by a very different man this round. The fact that Natsu kept making borderline savage comments to Laxus about how the older man viewed her only made Lucy's confusion worse. It was strange that she was beginning to think she was hearing both men speaking despite her eyes clear denial of any such thing happening. When lips don't move, it means people were not speaking to each other.

At the moment, the three of them were holding an uneasy truce as Lucy tried to focus on everything Laxus promised to explain. "Laxus?"

"Yeah, Blondie?" The bigger man's chest rumbled as he spoke.

"What makes you think that Zeref might still be alive? I mean, he was dead at the end of the fight with Tartarus Guild. But you mentioned thinking it was possible that he was behind the attack." Lucy asked him to clarify his thoughts.

"If not Zeref getting resurrected through forbidden magic, then the spell used to attack you was masterminded by one of his former lackeys is what my gut tells me. Can't say who cast that spell for certain, but it was a long range spell, and it was powerful enough that it would have taken several S class mages to cast it. The only mage I know who was strong enough to draw the number of needed S class dark mages would have to be Zeref."

Lucy considered that for a moment longer. "I'm sorry that I always seem to bring trouble to everyone in the guild. Sometimes I wonder if I even deserve . . ."

Natsu snapped, "Knock it off, Luce. Nobody feels that way except you. If anything, we get to show you how much you mean to us whenever you get into trouble. Bad people always want to hurt the best people because they're stupid. Dark Guilds are the worst and you're the best so it's something that's going to happen."

"He's right, Blondie. You know everyone thinks of you as Fairy Tail's light. Everyone's pissed off because you got attacked again. Your spirits even showed up on their own and they got their hands on these damned chains none of us can touch. We had quite the tug of war going as everyone did everything in their power to keep you from being sucked into that damned void spell. When backup arrived and broke the spell, Natsu and I volunteered to keep you stable long enough for the guild to find a way to heal you. You're very important to everyone in Fairy Tail, so don't forget it, Blondie."

Lucy sighed. She adored everyone in the guild. They were her family. Yet Lucy's love for everyone made it harder to handle all the attacks which hurt her heart's family. When push came to shove, Lucy was feeling horrible about always getting targeted by Dark Guilds. "Thanks, guys. I just feel so horrible that you're getting drawn into another mess because of me. I sometimes wonder if I'm jinxed. Can't believe I have the nickname of Lucky Lucy since all I ever bring is trouble to everyone in my family."

"Look, Blondie, the Dark Guilds are adamant that you're dangerous to their existence which isn't your fault. To their thinking, you're the most dangerous light magic mage around, and that is a compliment. They target you all the time because they obviously fear you more than they do me, Metal Head, or Fire Breath. Using your very rare magic power is always a huge part of all their plans too. When you put the puzzle pieces together, it means your magic is very unique, and highly sought after by the wrong people."

"If I'm so powerful, why do I always need rescuing like this, Sparky?" Lucy snipped in return due to being sick of getting called Blondie.

Laxus snickered before speaking. "Probably because your magic is too rare. It seems to me that you haven't been taught much about physical combat either. From what Loke said, your spirits are some kind of literal chains that keep this Abyss Lord trapped. Someone in ancient times attached Star Singers' bloodline powers to the same prison as the Spirits to make it stronger. The new comers all called you a Star Singer and pegged you as being part of the Orion bloodline. I've already told you that part, Blondie."

"If we can figure out how to get Luce free from these damned chains coming out of her chest, then she'll probably be a lot safer from the Dark Guilds. Right?"

"The biggest problem we have to solve right now is dealing with this Spirit carcass while keeping Blondie here alive. Everyone in Fairy Tail is searching for a solution to the chains, Idiot. Like I said before, this is a complicated situation and you don't comprehend the half of it yet." Laxus lectured as he reached forward and tried to touch the chains.

Keeping her arms crossed over her exposed breasts, Lucy frowned as she watched Laxus hands pass through the chains yet again. Following the path of the taut chains, her eyes moved toward the edge of the illusionary garden. At a glance the chains looked very real, but trying to touch them made them appear to be an empty illusion. However, the painful aching tug Lucy experienced near her heart proved they existed. Out of all of them, only she could touch the excruciating and cold chains.

"Then figure out how to get Aquarius off of Luce already, Laxus! You said not to use my fire, and brute strength doesn't work!"

"I've been trying to think of something, Dumb Ass! Everything about this situation is complicated! One wrong move and we could kill Blondie! So just stay put and don't lose control of your power while sharing it with her. If I had Freed around this would be a hell of a lot easier since he knows the basics of just about every kind of magic that exists. What he doesn't know, he gets answers fast with a bit of research. Two years ago he found a way to stop a demonic possession with his runes. If anyone knows how to get that corpse out of Blondie, it's probably Freed."

"Levi's like that too. Wish I could talk to her right now." Lucy added.

"So we can't help Luce without talking to them? If that's the case then one of us needs to go back and tell them what's happening to Luce. Don't you think?"

"You already tried and failed to get out of here, Dummy. We've already figured out that we

re trapped. You both need to keep in mind is the Star Singer description we got from Gajeel's dragon and Loke's argument with those Fairies, Moron. Unlike other Mages, the description they gave totally fits Blondie's power. Dark Guilds don't have a habit of targeting Sabertooth's Celestial Spirit Mage because she isn't like Lucy. They target Blondie because the Dark Guilds know she's not a normal Celestial Spirit Mage. According to Loke, Zeref systematically exterminated the decedents of mages involved with imprisoning the Abyss Lord demon because they were all Star Singer class Celestial Spirit Mages. Getting these untouchable chains off of her won't stop the attacks at all, Ash Brains. We have to protect Blondie until we can get rid of the Abyss Lord, or every single Dark Guild permanently."

Lucy felt prickled of pain gathering behind her vision. Her eyes were so swollen from all the tears she had cried already that it physically hurt to have the emotional pricking begin yet again. "Maybe if I die, all of this will stop happening to everyone in the Guild though."

Laxus thumped Lucy on the forehead which hurt even worse than her sore, burning eyes. "Wrong thing to say, Blondie! Your death unlocks the demon's cage as I understand from the things I overheard during Loke's conversation with those Fairies right before you were attacked. Whichever Dark Guild is behind this, they sure as shit won't stop trying to kill you considering what I heard. I need more information on the ancestral binding seal stones that were mentioned by those newcomers. They made it sound like the ancestral binding stones are physical place holders for the prison. Likewise, the stones are probably keys to a second way of breaking the prison. If Zeref, or his followers have gathered those specific stones, your blood would automatically free a very powerful demon that some Dark Guild is desperate to control even if the chains are removed from you."

"How could my blood, or my death change anything, Laxus? I really don't see why anyone would make me into some elaborate prison key because I'm so weak compared to the rest of you." Lucy replied.

"Luce, you shouldn't talk that way. To be honest, even I get that part of what Laxus is saying. It's like you're the only person that demon can't handle being near or something like that. If you die, then there isn't anyone who can stop the damned thing from hurting everyone is what I think Laxus is trying to say."

"I'm surprised you figured that much out, Natsu. The newcomers and Loke agreed that the prison feeds off of Blondie's specific magical strength and life force because it repairs the prison damage and is probably very painful for it to touch. Lacrimas can't be substituted to feed power into the prison because these untouchable astral chains can't accept the energy from any non living sources. The implications are pretty obvious. Something about Blondie's power must repel or outright weaken this particular demon."

Fed up, Lucy smacked Laxus in the chest and snapped. "I'm sitting in your lap, so at least include me in your conversation, Jerk!"

"Okay. Calm down already."

"Why should I when you won't even use my name. I'm not the only blond here either, Sparky!"

Laxus rolled his eyes as he pushed his face into Lucy's with an eyebrow quirking upward. "Get used to your nickname, Blondie. I don't give those to just anyone, and neither does Bickslow."

"You call Natsu a lot of things, and Bickslow really hates me." Lucy pointed out as she stared Laxus down.

"Bickslow doesn't hate you at all. He just likes to see you get mad because you get feisty. Same goes for me. We like to see that you do have a backbone when you need it. Let's get back to the main problem. Shall we?"

"Ohhhhh kay." Lucy drew out the one word as she tried to figure out where Laxus weird revelation came from.

"I overheard them talking about how you're suffering from a rare kind of magical vitality depletion because there aren't enough people feeding the prison right now. Seems a lack of people that can do the job is why you have so many of these damned chains on you. The mangled dragon said something about spares being capable of easing the magical drain on you but I'm not sure what was meant. It may be possible to find other people willing to accept the role of being batteries which could solve most of this problem you're having right now. Aside from my suspicion the fact that people can volunteer to become additional energy feeders, only the damned Ancient Fairies have any idea how to set up the links to the prison so we can get these chains off of you."

Natsu butted in at that moment. "Maybe Luce's Spirits know how to get the chains off of her? You know Loke really hated those guys so how can we trust them with Luce's life?"

"I'm sure Loke won't let them do anything to Blondie, Natsu. He's too protective and obnoxious whenever she gets hurt. We've all seen him pull his crazy stunts when she's knocked out." Laxus grumbled.

Lucy was not sure how to respond to both men's conversation. Loke did force his gate open fairly often, and it got on her nerves when he pulled his playboy antics on her. Taking Loke's flirting seriously was out of the question because it was far too cliche for her taste. Still, hearing Laxus say that Loke would protect her was a nice change. Now if only the blond headed man would start using her name, maybe they could get along. Lucy felt her more stubborn side rearing it's head. So long as Laxus insisted on calling her Blondie, she'd have to continue looking for a really irritating nickname for him also.

"Something sounds off about the one part you said, Twinkle Toes. Magical depravation sickness makes people physically ill and they sleep a lot. I haven't really felt all that drained. The real problem is that I couldn't breathe very well for a couple of weeks. How could magical deprivation sickness affect my breathing?"

Natsu began laughing. Lucy was relieved to hear genuine humor from her pink haired teammate. It always worried her when Natsu was acting out of sorts. Laxus looked ready to strangle her Lucy realized a split second later. Still, Lucy did not like being treated so cavalierly, and considering the crazy thoughts popping into her head, she was fed up with everything. Lucy was not going to back down when it came to forcing the stubborn Lightning Dragon Slayer to use her actual name at this point if only because it distracted her from the weird monologues that kept rising in her brain with Laxus and Natsu's voices attached..

"The fuck? Twinkle Toes? Are you serious, Blondie?"

"Keep calling me Blondie and I'll call you even more annoying next time! You don't deserve to be called Sparky since that implies a lot of good qualities that you have yet to earn each time you disrespect me by treating me like I'm a brainless bimbo!" Lucy responded, butting heads with the irritated Lightning Slayer.

"Damn it, I'm not disrespectful when I call you Blondie. Look, we're here until things get sorted out on the outside so quit getting pissed about my family nickname for you. Hell, even Natsu knows it's a compliment when I give anyone a nickname."

"Actually, Laxus is telling the truth about the whole nickname thing, Luce. He's just being a Jackass because he knows Blondie pisses you off." Natsu surprised Lucy by backing what Laxus said.

"We're both blond so it sounds ridiculous for Laxus to call me Blondie, Natsu." Lucy grumbled.

"Can we get back to what's important here?" Laxus growled as he leveled a glare at her. Gnawing on her lower lip, Lucy thought about how silly she was being for several seconds before nodded consent.

"The thing that gets me is that the newcomers said you have a rare type of magic deprivation so it could be that your life force is being drained at an alarming rate because your main magic reserves collapsed under the pressure of being crippled by feeding the prison for several years, Lucy. I also heard Loke say something about how all your Spirits are trying to find a cure because this is the same illness that killed your mother."

"Thank you for the explanation, and for saying my name. Now was saying it so unbearably horrible, Laxus?" Lucy was not certain why she felt she had to continue digging at Laxus but it popped out of her mouth before she had time to consider her answer.

"I've never thought your name was horrible and I've already told you why I tease you. Geeze woman, will you let it go already?" Laxus frowned.

"Sorry. Guess I'm getting really cranky so I don't have much of a sense of humor left. All I really want is to go to sleep to be honest." Lucy admitted as her lips thinned while she looked around the area.

"No can do until we're sure you won't die. If I was certain you'd be okay, I'd let you sleep all you want to, but we can't risk it since as far as I know, we're stuck in your mind right now, Blo. . . erm, Lucy". The fact Laxus caught himself before he called her Blondie again cheered Lucy a little. If not for Natsu and Laxus trying their hardest to take care of her, Lucy might have thrown another tantrum. However, the two men were worried about her or they would not have gone to such lengths to help her.

"Fuck!" Laxus jerked as he snarled the single word, grabbing his head in his hand which almost caused Lucy to fall out of his lap. By reflex Lucy grabbed onto his heavily muscled side to stabilize herself. A look at the obvious pain contorting Laxus features set off alarm bells in Lucy's head.

"Laxus, are you okay?" Lucy asked as she twisted to try and get a better look at his face. All Lucy could see clearly was gritted teeth and fast elongating canines. A moment later, Laxus began to relax although his visage still spoke of being in pain. "Where are you, Warren? And why the fuck is your telepathic contact hurting so much?"

Lucy felt her eyes widen. Laxus was hearing from Warren? Hope flared in Lucy's heart. Maybe the Guild had good news. Hopefully everything was on the way to being fixed and they could all escape this strange place.

"Wait a second. Slow down, Warren. I need you to get Freed for me."

Several moments passed as Laxus listened to whatever Warren was saying to him. Lucy wished she could hear their guild mate. Without warning Laxus posture went rigid.

"Damn it! Nothing like that is happening so tell everyone to shut the fuck up! Tell Freed that somehow Lucy's got Aquarius's corpse in here with her, and it's half merged into her back. It's dragging a shit load of energy out of her and we're having one hell of a hard time getting her stabilized! I need to know what we have to do to get rid of the corpse and Freed has done a couple exorcisms using his runes!"

Lucy looked over at Natsu who was staring intently at Laxus also. The fact Natsu was looking so tired made it harder for Lucy to breathe. If only she knew how to fix things and stop the drain none of them would have to suffer Lucy chided herself as she waited.

"Stop picking on yourself, Luce. None of us know how to stop the drain, and that isn't your fault. Maybe Warren can give us the answers we need to help you."

Laxus voice interrupted before Lucy thought of a reply. "Shit! They did what?"

Watching as Laxus listened again, Lucy was not all that surprised to see obvious rage settle onto the older Mage's features. His Lightning scar began to twitch as Lucy waited for an explanation.

"At least I know about what to expect. Get answers about this damned Spirit Corpse as fast as you can, Warren. I'll be waiting to hear from you. I won't fail to pass on the message and get everyone anchored now that I know what's going to happen."

The pain seemed to start ebbing from Laxus features after several seconds. Feeling bad for having given Laxus a hard time, Lucy pushed his large hands aside to massage his temples in a circular pattern. "That looked really painful. Are you okay, Laxus?"

"I will be in a minute. Seems that I'm the only one they can still reach. It took Warren getting a serious power boost from one of the more powerful Ancients to make it work. They're worried that we're all getting too drained for safety. Warren said they think you've gone overboard, Natsu. They said you need to pull back for a little while if at all possible."

"I'm not going to abandon Luce when she needs me! I don't care if I am tired. Luce needs my energy so I'm going to keep giving it to her!"

"That isn't what Warren meant, Moron. Seems there's a side effect we weren't told about when we volunteered to shore up Blondie."

Lucy could not help but cringe when Laxus called her that yet again. Biting her tongue, Lucy waited for the man to continue speaking while she tried to relieve his throbbing skull with her fingers.

"What kind of side effect?" Natsu asked, sounding curious.

"Seems those Fairies used something they call Soul Binding on us. They actually punched chunks of our souls out of us and replaced them with chunks of her soul. In short, they swapped out parts of us with each other. We have to be careful that we don't lose ourselves and become a weird three body single person right now."

Lucy felt like she was hit in the gut as Laxus words sank into her mind. A very bad feeling suddenly began to well inside as Lucy glanced at the scenes that had not stopped whirling around the room. The mild concern she had about the voices in her head suddenly shot to the forefront of Lucy's thoughts. "What kinds of symptoms are we talking about, Laxus?"

Laxus grimaced as he looked to the side. "Seems that one of the side effects is a lack of mental privacy. It explains why we keep seeing our life stories playing out around us. Also, we aren't in your head, Lucy. When the swap was made, it somehow destabilized the chains more than was expected. Your soul is trying to shatter and so the Ancients want permission to try and yank a couple chains off of you. They say it's not all that great a chance of success at this point, but if they wait too long, your survival rate will plummet as will mind and Natsu's now that we've been bound to you for good."

"Wait. What do you mean bound to me? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, Laxus." Part of Lucy's mind whirled with all sorts of possibilities as to what Laxus meant by bound for good. Yet the rest of Lucy was frightened by the implications of most of those ideas. Far as Lucy had ever been able to tell, Laxus was going to be very angry if being bound together meant what it sounded like to her.

"I'm not mad at you, Blondie, so calm down. We'll figure this out after we get you on the road to recovery. It means exactly like it sounds. Seems that Fairies don't have any damned consideration for humans which explains why Loke hates them so much. For now we all need to stay focused on trying to keep your energy from getting drained too fast while shoring up our personalities by trying to protect our own thoughts. I'm sure Freed can come up with a plan that will reverse a lot of this once we get this spirit dealt with so the drain lessens." Laxus spoke in a firm voice as he stared into her eyes.

Flickers of orange flashed through stormy grey orbs as Laxus stared her down for several moments. A sudden sense of glee that Lucy knew was not her own seemed to rise yet again. Yet it was Natsu's voice that yanked Lucy's attention back to the room.

"Does this mean I get to sleep at your place all the time from now on, Luce?"

Speechless over the question due to the inability to process everything, Lucy could not decide whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Leave it to Natsu to say something so off beat and inappropriate at the worst possible time. The sudden feral growl that erupted from Laxus throat startled Lucy enough to whip her head back toward the larger man. "As out of control as your instincts are, I've already figured out why you hang onto Blondie like you do, and I can't say it's a bad strategy since she calms you down. However, once we're all awake, you and I are going to train you on how to control your instincts, Flame Thrower."

Natsu's eyes widened considerably before he began snapping. "I've tried a lot of things, but they don't work, Lightning Rod! I hate having to put all my focus on keeping them under control! If you noticed the problem, then you know there isn't much of a solution!"

"I'm not going to let you screw up Blondie's or my life because of being unable to get a firm handle on your instincts. Trying to shove them into a locked box is only making the problem worse. Getting stuck with you is not something I'm happy about, but I'm not going to see Lucy get hurt because of this mess. I am going to beat the unholy shit out of those fucking Fairies when we wake up, but for now, I'm going to do what I can to figure out how to make this work long term since none of us have any choice."

With every word coming from Laxus mouth as he focused on Natsu, Lucy's mind replayed all the strange thoughts that had been spinning through her skull, mostly in Laxus' voice. The more the soul bound situation sank in, the harder it was to escape what was actually happening. With a sense of overwhelming shock, Lucy finally understood she had been hearing Laxus and Natsu's thoughts all along. If she heard their thoughts, then they heard all of hers also. If what Laxus said was true, then none of them had any secrets left from each other no matter what they might wish. The full brunt of everything implied crashed in on Lucy's awareness like a tsunami of emotions she could not hold back. Unable to accept everything, Lucy felt her conscience collapse as darkness exploded over her, dragging her under a blanket of tormented emotions followed by blissful silence.

~~oo0oo~~


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks to the newest faves and followers who found this tale. I'm glad people are reading this story. Thanks also for every review. Reviews mean a lot as such input lets me know whether or not I am on the right track. :) This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I actually had an opportunity to work on this story all day. Guess miracles never cease. [ancient language spoken]

CHAPTER 13

Loke hoped that the two Dragon Slayers in the infirmary with Lucy were not trying to kill each other's spirit selves because of the soul bond inflicted upon all three as he sat with the Royal family, and tried to answer their questions as they came. The King had finished his dessert, and Sabertooth's twin Dragon Slayers plus Celestial Spirit Mage had arrived and were making quick work of their own food while the rest waited to be drawn into the Master's office for the real discussion about what was at stake.

Vraylinish had asked Loke earlier about how best to calm the guild's fears. Loke had told her his opinion about their need to find a way to communicate with the sleeping trio. They had devised a working plan that involved Warren Rocko, Fairy Tail's resident telepath. Now they both waited for Warren and Shiv to complete their task of contacting the trio, and finding out how they were doing inside their magical comas. Loke knew that so long as Fairy Tail's resident telepath could vouch for the three being okay, most of the Guild's fury would abate. Their situation was far too serious to waste so much energy on mistrust and hatred. The Abyss Lord could still escape it's prison at any time, and such a threat had to be faced with clear heads.

Makarov was doing his best to amuse and deflect King Toma's impatience so that Sting, Rogue, and Yukino could finish eating. However, Loke could tell that the monarch of Fiore was not going to be delayed by common courtesies much longer. As if his thought had reached the man, Toma began pushing for a full disclosure of the situation. "Celestial Spirit Leo, would you be so kind as to explain what you recall of your last fight with this Abyss Lord?"

Flashes of Loke's recurring nightmare tried to surface but Loke slammed a mental door on the vivid scenery of carnage. It was possible that something could go wrong. Loke realized that more was at stake than only saving Lucy's life so it was probably best to divulge the information where all of Fairy Tail could hear the long hidden truth. "Certainly, Your Majesty. First of all, I should provide you with a bit of the history that has been concealed by order of the Celestial Spirit King."

"Why would your King want to conceal your history?" Makarov demanded.

"You must understand that all of the Ecliptic Zodiac Spirits have soul cores that were formed from very powerful Star Singers, meaning humans . . . Star Singer class, Constellation Temple Priests committed suicide roughly five thousand years ago to seal Abyss Lord away. Star Singers are rare humans who can tap power directly from specific stars that have the right resonance frequencies. In the case of those of us who became Zodiacs, the ability was so abnormally strong that the uncontrollable magic was actually life threatening even before we did the summoning spell."

Princess Hisui looked stunned. "Are you saying that you, the leader of the Zodiac Celestial Spirits, were once human?"

"All Star Singers are human. All the powerful Celestial Spirits were created from Star Singers. In rare instances the human soul core can mix with non human soul and spirit elements to create us Celestial Spirits. However, because we are no longer human, our power is curbed or expanded based upon our various Master's altitudes and magical strength. You could say it is a fail safe to insure that the bulk of our power remains firmly attached to maintaining the astral prison that we sacrificed everything to create so long ago. A rare Celestial Spirit Mage like Lucy can actively grant us access to a larger share of the star power that we are entrenched in for all eternity because we are the essence of The Chains of Binding. To put it simply, every Zodiac Spirit is a mixture of multiple humans, and non humans that died fighting the Abyss Lord when the Star Temples joined together to summon the Star Phoenix."

Yukino gasped, gaining Loke's attention. Seeing that she covered her mouth, tears coursing down her cheeks, but gave no sign of speaking, Loke continued his story.

"The Star Temples were drawn into the fight with Abyss Lord thousands of years ago, alongside all the magical races. Without any warning Abyss Lord broke into our realm and began erasing all life systematically and with virtually no real opposition. Magic was far stronger then and the fact that a massive army of magical beings with so much raw power could not stop the Abyss Lord makes this current situation all the more volatile."

"How so, Leo Sama?" Toma asked.

"The ability to reseal the Abyss Lord if it gets free no longer exists, Your Majesty. This world no longer has several hundred thousand magical beings with the power of dragons or greater to fuel the spell required to seal it again. Star singers are almost extinct so the power can't be drawn directly from the stars either. Only Star Singers have the actual ability to create the seal, and without any of them to sacrifice their lives for this world, you've got almost zero chance of stopping this demon."

Makarov slammed his beer mug onto the table top. "Are you saying Fairy Tail mages aren't strong enough to deal with this demon, Loke?"

"Let me tell you the facts about the past, and then you can decide for yourself, Master Makarov."

"Get to it, Brat."

"First of all, human magic was still exceedingly rare. Only two types of magic were evolving among humans, and only among those humans unfortunate enough to live in close proximity to Fairy communities. Shamans and Star Singers were the two very different types of power that existed back then. The Shamans could do small things like help plants grow and could understand medicinal properties of said plants among other things. They could understand what was going wrong in a person's body and spirit. Star Temple Priests evolved the ability to create Astral Chains and tap actual star power which was far more dangerous magically speaking, and a lot more impressive. The magic could be used in ways no Shaman ever dreamed of and from the Star Singer branch all magic that we consider normal now got it's original structuring. However, the vast majority of modern Mages power base evolved from the Shaman branch, not Star Singers. Modern magic is a fusion of Star Singer ways of structuring a Shamanic core power base. The two types of actual power are not anything alike at their cores which makes it impossible for a Shaman base power to seal away the Abyss Lord."

Toma rubbed his chin for several seconds as he listened. "Are you absolutely certain that modern mages can't reseal the Abyss Lord if it breaks free, Leo?"

"Unfortunately, yes I am. . . ."

Vraylinish cut Loke off mid sentence which annoyed him. "While Shamans did help during the Abyss demon battle where ever they could, they were far too different a power base from the Star Singers who had to shoulder the brunt of the battle. Shaman power was completely ineffective because it increased the strength of the Abyss Lord demon instead of draining any power away. I had to order them to confine their power to helping heal those who could be saved, bury the recognizable chunks of those who died, and keep them away from the battlefield completely to giv us even the slimmest chance of slowing the Abyss Lord's march at all."

Looking around the Guild's upper and lower floors, Loke noticed that everything had become tomb level silent as he was speaking. It felt eerie to be sitting within the reputed noisiest guild in Fiore and not a single sound could be heard. With a sigh, Loke continued speaking as memories flashed and flared only to be pushed aside.

"The original Highest ranked Star Singer Priests and Priestesses with the highest magic capacity were taught a specific forbidden spell to summon the Star Phoenix if the world was ever in grave danger. It required the cooperation of each High Priest ranked group from every Zodiac Temple, meaning all sixteen Star Temples' strongest members had to do the summoning together with a single unified desire, or the spell would not work although everyone would still die because of trying to summon the Star Phoenix."

"What do you mean everyone would die whether or not the summoning worked?" Loke did not see who yelled the question, but it was a male voice. It came from the upper level where most of Fairy Tail's mages were confined to prevent fights.

"I mean exactly what I said. The condition of Summoning Star Phoenix is a fiery death that you have to endure throughout casting the spell while you're burning alive. If you can't handle the pain the spell fails. Star Phoenix did not want to be called out for stupid reasons so those who had touched the Phoenix's sentience and were given the spell knew that was the iron clad condition attached to it. The fact you have to stay focused while being burned alive ruins any temptation to call forth so much raw creation power unless saving their world was their only priority. The Phoenix alone held judgement of each soul's value, and could give them a new body, or lave them dead being the second condition for the summoning."

Makarov snapped at everyone hanging in the railing above. "Hold any questions for after we all know what we need to know, brats. You're interrupting an important meeting."

"Its fine, Master Makarov. In a way the question is pertinent since it should make clear how powerful the Abyss Lord actually is, and the kind of losses we can expect if it get free. Nothing the unified magical races threw at the demon worked to slow the Abyss Lord's destruction down. The demon was impervious to all types of group and individual attacks thrown at it by the most powerful magical races. The Leo Constellation Temple's highest ranked priest was named Reagaltiel. He set the Star Phoenix Summoning in motion because the battle was an incomprehensible slaughter of immortals and mortals alike, with little more than an occasional hesitation within the black magic funnel cloud that surrounded the Abyss Lord. Tenru island was a continent that was a little larger than Fiore, and yet the Abyss Lord's destructive power reduced a decent sized continent to a small island in roughly three and a half days. Just by visiting the area where the Star Phoenix was summoned to stop the demon, it is pretty obvious that Abyss Lord wields a power that the combined might of all the magical Ancients could not stand against."

Vraylinish snorted, "Quite the understatement. I recall being there. Blood and damnation but dozens of Queen Sertatsie's dragon followers and uncountable numbers of people from the unified races were reduced to bloody mist with a few small chunks left over every three notches of a shadow checking stick to tell what part of the day it was. The death toll included the immortal Fairies who were this world's most devastating, and dangerous powers before the Abyss Lord rendered them extinct. The last twenty six be all that was alive by the time the demon was sealed. I took them under my command to insure peace between the races would hold long enough to put this world back together."

Loke glared at the warrior woman before continuing, "As I was saying, nothing worked against the Abyss Lord so the Star Singers banded together and summoned the Star Phoenix. Seeing what was happening, the Star Phoenix used all of the temple priests' astral chain connections to their stars as a foundation to create a prison out of our Astral Star Chains to confine the Abyss Lord and lock it away from this world by creating the foundation of the Celestial Realm. The many thousands who died in the battle were merged into various Celestial Spirits like myself during the process which also increased, yet also altered each variety of magic a Celestial Spirit can use. Spirits like Sagittarius obviously have a fair amount of Centaur spirits merged into the human soul core to increase the power drawing ability, and confer Centaur like powers. Do you understand so far, Your Majesty, and Highness?"

Hisui tapped her chin. "Why was this vital information not included in the Celestial Spirit Lore, Leo sama?"

"The truth had to be hidden once Zeref became the Abyss Lord's unwilling puppet. Zeref was corrupted beyond recognition and none of us have ever figured out how it happened. He started hunting down the Star Singer lineages. We dd not know at the time that there were sixteen bloodlines astrally chained to the Abyss Lord's prison to repair the damage continuously to prevent this kind of situation from happening. In a last ditch attempt to safeguard the Celestial Spirit Mages that existed at the time, our King commanded that everyone involved with our realm be sent into hiding, and forbidden to talk about Celestial Spirits at all."

Various gasps and other shocked sounds greeted Loke's news. It was not something that Loke liked to admit because of how badly the Celestial spirits had failed their distant relatives without even knowing about the chains being tied to them from their births. Had the Celestials known, they would have been better prepared to prevent something as dangerous as this situation.

"Even the keys for all types of Celestial Spirits who came into being at the end of the battle were hidden to try and save the rare Star Singer bloodlines. During that time, the Celestial Spirit King began elevating certain individuals who had lived and died to become new Celestial Spirits. He gave the knowledge of key making to certain mages with talent began making new keys. Beings like Canus Minor, or Nicora are animal soul cores instead of human soul cores. Most elevated beast soul cores were very loyal, loving pets who laid their lives down to save their masters. All of these things were deemed necessary to try and prevent the extinction of the Star Singer, or Zodiac bloodlines."

"Yes, I know about animal souls being among the lesser keys as I am a key maker. However, I have never heard of Zodiac Bloodlines before." Hisui interjected into the lecture.

"Yes, and we Zodiac Spirits owe you our eternal gratitude for helping our Mistress insure our ongoing existence when we were corrupted." Loke responded bluntly but with genuine feeling.

Princess Hisui blushed and wagged her hand to brush off the sincere gratitude. "I'm glad you're all doing well. Please continue with your history lesson. I'm sure it's very important to what's happening now."

Loke nodded and considered what he wanted to say next. "The Zodiac bloodlines are the descendants of the Priests and Priestesses that sacrificed everything to summon the Star Phoenix, the Star Singer bloodlines. The Phoenix created the very first Celestial Spirits from the sixteen Astral Chained Priests who sacrificed themselves to gain knowledge and power enough to seal away the Abyss Lord. The Phoenix exhausted it's own power and suffered irreversible corruption to create the first Celestial Spirits that are the main seal for the Abyss Lord. The Zodiac Bloodlines include the Spirit King's bloodline, as his is the first of three Rhodium gate keys that we are commanded to keep hidden from humanity except under extreme circumstances, plus the thirteen golden gate keys which Yukino and Lucy collectively own."

"Wait a second. Let me see if I've got this straight. You Celestial Spirits are some kind of elaborate living prison for some really bad ass demon?" Sting demanded as his fist slammed down on the table top.

"Yes. The Celestial Realm is actually a type of wall around the actual prison if you must know. If Abyss Lord escapes it's actual prison, it has to destroy the Celestial Realm to get back here. The fact that all the Zodiacs will cease to exist if Abyss breaks free means we won't be there to help you fight." Loke answered in a monotone voice.

["Blood of the thrice blasted world tree, Reagaltiel! What were you fools thinking when you sealed it in such a manner? Did you not get enough misery battling it the first time? How dare you fools remain in constant peril all this time?"] Vraylinish snarled at him with furious eyes leveled on his face.

["It had to be done the way it was to save this world's existence. None of us regret being created from the souls who screamed for justice and their loved ones salvation, and we never will. We are not those people who you once knew so stop trying to make me into your dead lover. I keep telling you that Reagaltiel is long dead, Sacred Saint."] Loke spat right back with equal venom.

"Uhm, can I interrupt for a moment, Master?" Warren was speaking as he hurried across the floor toward Makarov.

Loke's eyes narrowed as he noticed that Warren looked down right pasty as Makarov twisted on the bench to face him."What is it Warren?"

"I really need to talk to Loke for a moment if you would allow it, and it is important. Re-balancer Shiv needs to get some information about Aquarius from him."

"Okay. How long will it take, Warren?"

"I don't really know, Master, but it's very important that Shiv gets her answers." Warren responded while wringing his hands.

"Shouldn't take more than a minute or two unless Shiv actually is hoping to actually meet her. Aquarius no longer has a gate to come here since her key was sacrificed to bring our Celestial Spirit King to this realm without his Rhodium key." Loke frowned as he stood up and got free of the bench.

Loke said nothing when Makarov excused himself and also followed Warren into the infirmary. Loke turned his eyes onto his mistress, laying between the two Dragon Slayers. Lucy had not moved a muscle since being deposited on the center cot. Her sense of magical presence had diminished since Loke was last in the room. Sending out his awareness, Loke realized that Natsu's sense of presence was also dropping.

"What the hell is going on? I thought they were stable." Loke muttered as irritation mounted.

["How long has the Spirit called Aquarius been dead?"] Shiv demanded.

Loke turned to look at the gangly woman with short, wildly frizzy, fawn colored hair. Her somber expression told Loke that something was very off. However, Loke could not fathom where such a question had come from because it made absolutely no sense.

["What are you talking about? Aquarius is in the Celestial realm. Granted she's been staying in the library and won't come out, but that's because she's tearing through every drop of information available to save Lucy's life. I've seen Aquarius every time I return to the Celestial Realm because she wants to know how Lucy's doing. I give her a report right after I check in with his Majesty so that she knows we're doing everything we can in this realm to save our Princess."]

[The big man over there is the only one we can telepathically contact. He says that there is a corpse of Aquarius sinking into the Star Singer's back. They need to know how to remove it because it is draining all their power at twice the rate of the five Astral Chains combined. If this continues, all three will die. We have no choice but try to teach the Star Singer how to connect to the stars directly and maintain a counter power coming into her soul because they won't last into a new dawn at this rate. We must also begin moving the Astral Chains whether or not she has stabilized. It is the only chance we have to prevent her soul from drifting closer to Ashkaraka, the realm of the dead.] Shiv answered.

Warren scratched his head as he watched them speaking. Loke saw him frowning as he held the translation lacrima close to his and Makarov's ears to keep track of their conversation. "Loke, I don't get any of this. How can there be a corpse of a Celestial Spirit? I thought you guys are immortal."

"We are pretty much immortal, Warren. I don't understand any of this either since I know for a fact that Aquarius is alive and has been in the Celestial Library helping Crux research for a way to heal Princess ever since she got ill." Loke answered as he lifted one of his crossed arms up and rested his chin on his knuckles and stared at Lucy's unmoving form.

["If this is not a corpse of your Aquarius, then what might it be, Reagaltiel?"]

["Not sure, but I am going to find out what I can from Aquarius right quick. She's the only one that might have an idea about why Laxus believes her corpse is sinking into Lucy's back."] Loke answered the sorrowful looking Fey woman.

Makarov grabbed his shoulder before he could teleport back to the Celestial Realm. "What's going on now, Loke?"

"I'm not sure, Master Makarov. Somehow Laxus has the idea that Aquarius is dead when I know for a fact she isn't. He's adamant that Aquarius is sinking into Lucy's soul, but that doesn't make any sense. I've got to go back and ask Aquarius if she has any idea of what this might be since Lucy did destroy her gate key to call the Celestial Spirit King to fight the Tartarus Guild. For all I know, it might have something to do with the Gate being destroyed, but right now I can't be certain."

"Okay. Hurry up and get answers. I'll get the rest of the update on how my brats are doing from Warren." Makarov answered with an absent pat on Loke's arm. With a nod Loke slid through his gate determined to confront Aquarius about what had happened to her when her key was broken.

~~oo0oo~~


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I thought about doing a 2 person POV, but decided against it so this chapter is a tad shorter than the others. Won't have much longer to enjoy this delightful break from real world responsibilities so I can type out and post chapters so often. Enjoy. Please let me know how this is progressing in the reader's eyes. I appreciate every fave, follow, and review a great deal. Such input inspires me to continue when I feel less than motivated due to being tired at the end of the day.

CHAPTER 14

As Loke vanished in a flash of gold, Makarov turned his eyes to stare at Lucy's face. Of all Makarov's guild adopted children, Lucy was the one who brought everyone joy, and yet was harmed the most often. Yet again the kindhearted woman was being hurt and treated poorly simply for existing, or so it felt to Makarov. Disgusted with fate's cruel whims and abuses which plagued the young woman, Makarov wished he could do something for Lucy that would change how fate treated her. Sometimes Makarov found himself wondering if life itself held a blood vendetta against Lucy Heartfilia for no valid reason. Today was certainly shaping up to be such a day. The only good thing that Makarov could see happening was that long held secrets were going to get revealed before this crisis was behind the trio on the beds.

When it came to secrets coming to light, Makarov was almost pleased by the crazy spell that was cast on his stubborn grandson. If anyone was capable of softening Laxus hard wired mistrust of everyone, Makarov suspected it was Lucy. In fact, from the time Lucy joined the guild, Makarov had seen Laxus reactions to the younger woman which had given him reason to suspect his grandson was flat rejecting his heart's desires. The way Laxus treated the younger woman was the main reason Makarov could not be upset by some parts of fate's obnoxious intervention. If even a handful of the side effects promised by the Ancients went into effect, Laxus would no longer be able to avoid admitting his attraction to Lucy.

As much as Makarov adored the idea of Laxus being forced to release all of his locked away emotions, he detested the pain this spell was going to cause Lucy. It was the worst blight of what had happened during the heat of battle. Knowing that Lucy would get hurt because of the unexplained consequences of the spell bothered Makarov more than he cared to admit. If only his grandson had enough sense to speak out earlier, Lucy could have made a choice that would have brought her happiness. Now, all Lucy could do was accept yet another unforseen happenstance with her trademark, regal grace under pressure.

Natsu's part within the crisis upset Makarov far more than the inevitable changes Laxus would cause Lucy to make. Makarov had no delusions about Natsu causing acute friction with Laxus. As rigid and unyielding as Laxus could become in his obsession with controlling everything around him, Natsu was the extreme opposite. Immaturity aside, Natsu was the densest of the Dragon Slayers at Fairy Tail. However, Makarov had noticed how driven the younger Slayer was from their first meeting. Natsu was impulsive to the point of self destructive. It had not escaped Makarov's notice that Lucy naturally curbed Natsu's more dangerous and always reckless habits. It was Lucy's compassion that influenced Natsu's slightly better behavior.

Despite Lucy's ability to accept and adapt to so much, Makarov feared that Natsu's soul shard would place the most strain on Lucy's sense of honor, and truly shatter her heart. Natsu was the first to proclaim Lucy was his best friend. Knowing that there was a possibility of new truths rising, Makarov feared Lucy getting torn apart by trying to accommodate such extremely different men's unbalanced emotions. Being caught between two powerful Dragon Slayers was not an ideal situation at the best of times, much less when the known Slayer Lore might be proven correct. If only the Fairies had not added Natsu to the mix, Makarov would have far brighter hopes for the trio's future. Such situations as this one convinced Makarov that fate hated Lucy as it had never hated another human being.

Two of the most powerful of Fiore's Dragon Slayers could very well die alongside Lucy if the power drain Laxus had mentioned was not stopped in time. At least the dispassionate Ancient had managed to learn what was going on by helping Warren talk to Laxus. Now it was a matter of finding the correct answer that would solve this latest puzzle in time. So many troubles, and so little time to overcome everything seemed to be Fairy Tail's long standing tradition.

The door to the infirmary banged against the wall which whipped Makarov around to see who was intruding. Vraylinish and King Toma E. Fiore stomped into the room. Glaring at the somber looking woman who had given Loke the strange report, Vraylinish demanded answers in the modern language. "What has gone amiss, Shiv?"

A slow, drawn out sigh preceded the fawn haired woman's modulated response. "A very good question. Something akin to a Celestial Spirit Corpse is attached to the Star Singer's soul core, but Spirit Loke swears the one in question is alive and well within their Celestial Realm. However, the unknown form is draining a vast amount of life force from the Star Singer. Short of dropping a couple of my Veil Chains and tapping Ashkaraka's knowledge, I see no way aside from trying to teach the Singer how to make, and maintain an Astral Star Chain of her own to counter the drain or all three may die before another dawn, or soon thereafter."

"By the thrice blasted world tree!" Vraylinish bellowed as power skated across her skin, revealing ghostly chains wrapped around her form. "Had I but known the deviltry to come I would have stopped the blasted Fairies from creating such a thrice vile curse in the name of added safety! Where did that accursed Reagaltiel pretender go? The bloody fool is needed!"

Makarov had a strong suspicion that the Sacred Saint was very hurt that Loke continued to deny being who she thought he was. Watching the irate woman pace the length of the infirmary floor, Makarov found himself wishing that things could be different for everyone involved. It was always painful to watch anyone suffer an irrevocable heartbreak such as it appeared Vraylinish was enduring.

"Loke went home to get answers from Aquarius about what happened when her gate was destroyed to bring the Celestial King to our world. Without answers, we can't save Lucy and the others." Makarov explained.

The soft spoken, regulated voice of Shiv stopped Vraylinish's pacing. "With your permission, I can seek the correct path from the Ashkaraka knowledge base, Sacred Saint. All I need is your blessing to drop enough Veil Chains to make the required leap. The girl is already descending, so it may be possible to draw her and her bonded ones back up through the astral side if I am already beneath her trajectory. It would make it easier to communicate with all three of them for their companion I believe."

"The power unleashed by you dropping Veil Chains will damage this man made cave. The only way to make it work is if we take all three out and away from this place because dropping any of your chains causes ground shakes." Vraylinish muttered darkly.

"True, but it would give us the opportunity to discover how many paths exist. If there are several paths, the better our chance of stopping Abyss, as you well know." Shiv pushed her frizzy hair out of her eyes while speaking.

"Are you certain that you can find a way to protect my country if we move these three?" King Toma lingered in the doorway. The King had listened to everything said Makarov realized as he faced Fiore's monarch.

It was for that reason alone that Vraylinish was forcing her people to speak in their language Makarov understood. The woman was doing everything in her power to prevent additional mistakes, and the toll on her patience was beginning to show. As he was in the same situation with his guild, Makarov felt a strong kinship to the ancient leader.

Vraylinish heaved a sigh and faced Toma. "Shiv is able to discover all paths that may be taken by anyone during their life. She has a very unique power which lets her literally descend to the realms of Judgement called Ashkaraka. Due to her unusual skill, Shiv can pull any information she requires from the foundations of Ashkaraka and create the best outcomes by laying down judgements of her own. Still, when Shiv releases any of the nine Veil Chains that bind her power, things get a bit dangerous."

Makarov stared at his grandson and Lucy as he listened to Vraylinish's answer. "Well I'm not sure I like the thought of an earthquake damaging the guild, but I can't let anyone take our guild mates out of here in this kind of condition. Why does your companion need to move these three to use her power?"

"Shiv has to have access to the people in question to be able to open the pathways for reading." Vraylinish explained as she ran elongating nails through her own dark hair.

King Toma spoke up before Makarov could come to terms with the strange offer that Shiv was presenting. "Is it possible for your Mage to insure that the Abyss Lord won't get free by opening these pathways with magic? You did say something about her being capable of changing outcomes after all."

"Your Majesty, I must object to moving any of them at this time. If the Dark Guild that attacked Lucy earlier is nearby, she could be attacked again. If that happens, we could find ourselves facing the Abyss Lord without any chance of planning out a viable strategy to defeat the demon." Makarov pointed out in a stern voice.

"Understood, and I do agree that they must be protected, Makarov. Therefore, I'm willing to pay for any damages to Magnolia and this guild if this odd woman's power can improve our chances of keeping the Abyss Lord locked away." Toma snapped in return.

"I'm not against trying this suggestion, but can only agree on one condition." Makarov faced Toma as he spoke.

"Name it, Makarov."

"We evacuate Magnolia so that none of the citizens get wounded if the earthquake that we've been warned to expect does occur."

"Done. Give me a couple of hours to get the city emptied out and additional Rune Knights in place for extra security. I'm also going to call an emergency meeting of the Guild Masters. Get ready to house them all, Makarov, because this situation must not be allowed to get out of control." Toma decreed with a curt nod and stepped out of the infirmary to make the arrangements.

"You have my gratitude and sincerest apologies yet again, Master Makarov. My people have brought great harm without intention to your people." Vraylinish spoke in a drained voice.

"Just tell me one thing . . . how dangerous will this be for my grandson and the others, Vraylinish?" Makarov demanded while unease snaked through his torso and squeezed his lungs in a vice.

Shiv answered after several moments of deep silence. "The real danger is of being hit by breaking pieces from this place when I break the Veil Chains that silence the bulk of my power. The real problem is that my power allows me to remove choice from each person and force them into obedience that may do emotional harm over time. Therefore, it will require some advise of what is acceptable to force upon these three before I dive into Ashkaraka's foundation knowledge."

"Will this dive of yours allow you to stop the drain happening, or help us to stop it? Or, at least discover the truth of why this happened to our beloved Lucy?"

"It will indeed reveal all that is at work in this crisis. Otherwise I would never let Shiv consider doing such a dangerous form of magic. After all, her power has a vicious backlash that Shiv has to endure after making any kind of judgement involving pushing changes upon the realms of the dead."

Hearing that the somber woman changed things about the realms of the dead made Makarov's hackles rise as a chill swept through his body. Shiv used yet another unwelcome and forbidden class of magic that had been buried during the last four centuries. Considering all Makarov knew about the ancient magic that had been deemed too dangerous, he had no doubt that Shiv's power was yet another one to be added to the list once this crisis was past. King Toma E Fiore would have no option but to order the glum woman to never use her powers without his direct supervision so long as she lived.

"Is it possible to make sure Natsu and Laxus don't try to kill each other once they wake up? The Dragon Slayer lore makes it very clear that Natsu and Laxus will have no choice but to kill each other over Lucy because they are both bound to her as mates. We need to force them to get along for the rest of their lives for Lucy's sake." Warren interjected.

"I will speak to Queen Sertatsie, and Metalicana about your request. If it is possible, I am sure one of them will know the correct pathway to pursue." Shiv responded in a borderline monotone.

"Warren, I know you want to help, but we should keep in mind what Vraylinish said about backlash. Harming Shiv more than absolutely necessary is not acceptable. We can find alternative ways to handle the Slayer territorial problems after they wake up and get well." Makarov chided the telepath.

"But the way the Soul Bond was described makes me think that Lucy would suffer a lot if she's put through that kind of nightmare. She shouldn't have to get stuck keeping the peace between Natsu and Laxus every moment of the rest of her life. If there's a way to make this easier on her, I think it's important to mention it. After all, Lucy might not be able to stop those two from destroying parts of Magnolia every time they get loose from whatever confinement we create for them. We have no idea how many years they'll have to live in cages to protect Magnolia from their Dragon Slayer instincts."

Makarov rubbed his face as Warren's points hit home. Locking up Laxus and Natsu for the rest of their lives was a bit more than he could stomach. It would only make things far worse for Lucy if she had to support all of them. Warren had made several brutal and valid points that Makarov had not wanted to entertain. Fairy Tail Mages already did enough damage on missions without adding a far greater amount of strain to the Guild's finances because of out of control Dragon Slayer instincts going haywire for however many years the two would live.

"Good points, Warren. I don't see any way around looking into it to be honest."

Shiv gave Vraylinish a single nod, and walked toward the infirmary door. "I'm coming with you, Shiv san. I need to be sure that I understand how we can help Laxus and Natsu so that the guild can be informed once we have everything under control." Makarov said while following the petite woman out of the infirmary.

~~oo0oo~~


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: As always, thanks for the follows, faves, and much appreciated reviews which encourage me to keep plugging away at this project. Please keep the reviews coming so my tuckered out self will dig deeper for inspiration when Real World responsibilities are done. Can't change the real world interference grown ups must deal with every day. Some days my Plot Bunnies may need to agree on the best way of executing a new sortie of mayhem and they can take longer and mess up my normal posting schedule when they all start fighting over the best POV character. So far the characters are not fighting for control though, and I had a cancellation today. So enjoy this new chapter.

CHAPTER 15

Igneel glided upon a brisk updraft high above the world of humans. His wings continued to flex between wing beats to maximize each current's use. Extending his magical senses to find his son yet again, Igneel curbed his growing impatience with the lack of response. His irritation was barely containable as Igneel wondered why his human had yet to answer him. Igneel was sure that his connection to Natsu had not lessened over the years. Although infrequent, Igneel never ignored any contacts Natsu initiated. Of course when Natsu called to him, Igneel found his son most needed reminders of keeping a dragon's pride within himself. So what was wrong with his adopted son?

Even as high above the communities of humans as Igneel remained, he knew that Magnolia was the city he was fast approaching. Sensing Metalicana's magical aura, and another dragon, Igneel wondered if something had gone awry with Metalicana's message delivery. His eagle sharp eyes saw nothing that implied any kind of destruction had happened. So what was going on that Natsu was not answering his mental calls? Had Natsu fought Metalicana or the strange dragon that Igneel sensed? Distance had never been a barrier to their communication, so that was not a plausible explanation for Natsu's silence. The lack of response from his son could only mean Natsu was badly injured, or currently lacked enough magic to answer. The thought ignited Igneel's protective side which enhanced his anger. Whomever was to blame for Natsu not answering was going to pay for any harm that was done to his son.

As the anger burned through his midsection, Igneel began to dive toward Metalicana's position intent on discovering what had happened. Nothing added up to Igneel's thinking. Shifting his muscles so that his sails became massive breaks, Igneel circled in tightening spirals as he closed on Metalicana and the other dragon's position. As expected, Metalicana's thought reached him. '_So you've finally arrived, Igneel. Try not to destroy anything when you get here. Things are a real mess because the Fairies have returned from their Suspended Animation and started causing trouble within minutes of awakening._'

Igneel felt his fire magic expand dangerously. All dragons knew the ancient lore about the crueler clans among the Fairy race. _'Which clans have come back, Metalicana?'_

'_The ones that Vraylinish chose to take under wing, Young King.' _A not so familiar female dragon's voice flicked through his mind.

'_Who are you?' _Igneel demanded as he zoomed in on the break within the tree line where Metalicana was resting. A broken down house stood at the edge of the clearing and Natsu's scent filtered into his nose.

'_Sertatsie is staying behind the magic Guild that our fledglings now belong to. She's the one speaking, Igneel.' _Metalicana responded as the fire dragon did a final approach to land near the other male by making a hard break with his haunches and out thrust front legs.

"So, the Ancient Queen is also here. Why do I have a very bad feeling about what news I'm going to get?" Igneel wasted no time on pleasantries as he turned his head to look at the other male and growled aloud.

Metalicana snorted. "I sensed you trying to call your fledgling, but he can't answer due to the spell he agreed to have cast on him by the blasted Fairies."

Igneel felt his anger writhing through his magic. "What kind of spell did they use on my son, and why can't he answer me?"

Sertatsie's mind orb flashed into the clearing and she responded. _'Two males are now Soul Bound to the Star Singer that I sensed earlier. They are in a deep sleeping state as they seek to save her life. Without both of the males sharing their life force, the female could not contain Abyss Lord any longer, Igneel. One of them is your Dragon Slayer. However, things have not gone smoothly because of various problems with the Orion bloodline being so close to extinction. She Wolf may be Fey, and have more than one Soul Bond, but their combined power is scarce able to feed the multiple chains that have attached to her during their time suspension. The Singer your son chose to bind himself to has five chains on her soul core which is about to break under the strain. Another has arrived, but we do not yet know how many chains she is struggling to feed. One of the other lineages has arrived also, but only has to maintain the one Astral Chain since she is not related to the Orion lineage. If only three Orion bloods still exist, plus the girl from the other lineage, times are indeed desperate.'_

'_Why did the Fairies soul bind my son to the Singer instead of doing something more reasonable? If she dies, so will Natsu!' _Igneel snarled in his mind at the Ancient.

'_The girl was directly attacked by Abyss Lord. Her soul core began fracturing as it was getting ripped from her body, Igneel. No other options were left to the Fairies but accepting Abyss Lord's return if they did not soul bind her to healthy individuals of unusually high magical power. We Ancients were unable to stop Abyss and the Star Singers are almost extinct. Only their unique power can seal away Abyss Lord without giving that demon added power. Only Star Singer magic stands a chance of draining the Abyss Lord. If not for your son's acceptance of the Soul Binding, we would be facing the complete inhalation of our world right now.' _

"The male Soul Bonded first was their artificially made Dragon Slayer, Igneel. I also shared a vision spell with your fledgling when I first arrived. I must say he strikes me as being rather different from all the other Dragon raised Slayers. In fact, your Natsu fights his instincts to the point he can barely think about anything else it seems." Metalicana informed him.

Igneel glared at the rainbow hued thought orb hovering near his face. Annoyance flowed through the massive red dragon's mind. Unless the other male was a natural Alpha or Beta, things could not end well. Modern Dragon Slayers were never chosen if they had natural Alpha tendencies due to what had happened with Acnologia. Alpha class human males were too dangerous once they reached breeding age as Acnologia had proven. Dragon instincts pushed Alphas to become obscenely aggressive, unlike ranks such as Delta or lesser. Even Beta ranked personalities were never chosen by dragons for Slayer training due to the fact they could evolve into true Alphas with the right kind of situational push. Delta rank was acceptable because they did have lesser leadership qualities, but they remained controllable when faced with their dragon parents. The thought that another Delta or lower ranked Dragon Slayer male getting pushed into competing for breeding rights with Natsu enraged Igneel.

'_Natsu's a natural Lead Warrior, not an Alpha! Why would you let what is most likely two mid ranked personalities become bonded to any female that would automatically hold a far higher rank if only because of her capacity to breed? Have the Fairies no common sense at all? This is unacceptable! Strong as my son is, he'll be forced to fight the other male because of his dragon instincts. Only a natural Alpha class male would be able to keep both males' dragon instincts in check.'_

'_I do not know much about the other male. However, I do see a couple of the Bane Warriors and the guild master heading this way. Seems they have something to discuss with me. Perhaps you two should come here.' _Sertatsie snapped before the orb winked out of existence.

Metalicana heaved his large scaled body up and stretched. "I'm not so sure about the outcome, Igneel. My fledgling obviously respects the big Lightning Slayer Sertatsie mentioned. Although I'm not certain, I did sense that Gajeel and Natsu were somewhat obedient to the bigger male's commands when they combined their strength to save the Star Singer during the attack. However, Natsu is very reckless and unruly so whined about their orders from the bigger and older Slayer. No need to panic the little humans since they stay away from your fledgling's home. I'll show you the path I've made to get there."

"I figured this was my son's place. It reeks of him and another being. Lead the way, Metalicana. I'll decide what kind of punishment to hand the Fairies responsible after I hear what these humans and Fey have to say for themselves." Igneel grumbled as he looked over the odd little building with tree limbs sticking out in one corner.

After a final glance at his son's home, Igneel followed Metalicana into the trees. The path was winding, but Igneel was not bothered because he had room enough to not feel trapped by the encroaching trees. Before long the smell of tainted water met Igneel's sensitive nose. The smell had an unnatural bite that Igneel did not like. Making a mental note to find better water to drink, Igneel picked up his pace as Metalicana broke through the tree line and continued to stroll closer to a large stone and wood building.

A massive, badly damaged yet pearly white hide greeted Igneel's vison a moment later when he broke through the tree line and meandered to the left to get a better look at their surroundings. None of the lore had prepared Igneel for the vast amount of damage the Ancient Queen had taken in her life and death battle with the Abyss Lord. Considering how much power radiated off of her, Igneel knew he was no match in raw magic, but he was in good condition unlike the broken shell of the Creation Queen. Even the grass around her had grown far taller than any of the surrounding area within a very short amount of time.

A man made miniature lake was the tall grass's boundary. The artificial lake was where the bad smelling water was located Igneel realized as he swept his gaze over the area. Igneel's gaze settled upon a small group of humans, and what looked like either a Spawn or a Bane who was keeping Sertatsie company. Metalicana was greeted by a long maned male who was showing his teeth in a human grin.

As Igneel stepped closer, Metalicana was already talking as the long haired male accompanied him the remaining steps. "Igneel is very unhappy about his fledgling being in this situation, Gajeel. As I cannot say what the artificial Slayer's natural personality ranking may be, things will be difficult to determine. We need information on the bigger male to help you figure out how to prevent them from killing each other."

The long haired male answered Metalicana after a short shrug of his shoulders. " I don't know Laxus all that well, but I do know he's an arrogant asshole, Dad. The bastard can take on me and Natsu simultaneously and hold his own though so he does have what it takes to back up his ego. Hell, during the Grand Magic Games Laxus took on his dad's strongest Mage team and won against the lot of them without any help from the rest of us. A couple of the other team's members were S class like himself. Laxus even beat one of the Wizard Saints in the tournament so we know he's capable of handling SS class missions handed down by the Magic Council whenever needed. Natsu's always challenging him, but Laxus knocks him out with a single punch and barely taps any magic to put him down."

Igneel considered the other male's words. However, it did not answer the most pressing questions about the artificial Slayer's personality so Igneel chose to speak up as he came abreast of the Iron dragon. "The main question is what natural ranking does this artificial Slayer have in terms of familial grouping? You strike me as a Hunter or Warrior rank personality, the same as my son. And if this other Slayer is of a rank such as Delta or lower in personality, there will be no stopping them from killing each other."

A very short, white haired and wizened human male stepped forward and began talking. "A pleasure to meet another dragon. I'm Makarov Dreyer, Guild Master of Fairy Tail, and you must be Natsu's father, Igneel."

"You would be correct, Little Master. At the moment, it seems we have more important things to discuss than empty pleasantries. My son's life and another's may be at stake. Unless we can determine natural personality rankings of the two Slayers now bound to the same female."

"Laxus is my grandson. His father, Ivan, placed a Lightning Dragon Lacrima behind his right eye when Laxus was a boy."

Igneel dropped his nose near the ground and demanded, "Does your grandson bear a dragon made lacrima, or a genuine Heart or Mind Lacrima from an actual dead lightning dragon?"

Makarov stepped back and rubbed a hand through his hair. I'm not sure. We don't really know all that much about what my son Ivan used on Laxus. I'm afraid Laxus hasn't told me much about how the gem affects him. But I suppose that's because Laxus doesn't have all that much trust in anyone because of what his father did to him."

"The proof would be in how the power responds. If it is easily controlled and the male is smart, then it is safe to say it is either a Dragon Gem, or a Mind Lacrima instead of Heart Lacrima. Dragon heart power overwhelms the user whether or not it is trapped within the user's body." Igneel answered as he fought down impatience and disgust.

"Laxus must have a Dragon Gem or Mind Lacrima then because aside from being extremely willful and cunning, he doesn't have any problems controlling his emotions. If anything, Laxus is rather emotionally closed off most of the time." Makarov answered with a frown on his wizened face.

"What kind of a leadership qualities does your Laxus display normally?" Igneel demanded as he stared at the short, yet powerful human.

Gajeel stepped next to Makarov and began talking. "Laxus has a lot of leadership strengths. He's the leader of the Thunder God Tribe, and takes control of ordering others into action without hesitation whenever shit hits the fan in his presence. I'll vouch for the fact that he's a natural leader. The main problem is his ego. Laxus can be a real prick at times so he isn't exactly popular with the rest of us, Igneel sama."

Igneel was not happy about how things were sounding. Alpha humans were dangerous especially if they were trained as Dragon Slayers. Not only was this Laxus sounding like an Alpha, but the time frames added up to imply the possibility of this male was the recipient of something other than an ordinary dragon created gem. Igneel knew that the last Alpha Lightning Dragon's tomb was raided of both the heart and mind gems roughly twenty human years ago. Depending upon time frames, Laxus might have received a segment from Lightning Lord Aeriolus mind. If the artificial Slayer had a chunk of the Lightning Lord's mind fueling his considerable power, this Lightning Dragon Slayer could easily kill Natsu if he was not aware of the knowledge contained in his lacrima.

Aeriolus had been among the strongest of the elemental dragon kings, and one of the oldest as well. If Laxus had a genuine chunk of dragon within his body, instead of a dragon made gem, then the man was also a true hybrid. The lacrima, if part of Aeriolus' mind, increased the probability that if Laxus was in touch with Aeriolus's knowledge, he would not kill Natsu, only force Natsu to accept his leadership. Either way, Natsu was going to get injured, but it was possible to prevent two Dragon Slayers from killing each other if the gem was a piece of fossilized brain from the Lightning Dragon's tomb.

Igneel snapped his attention back to the group of humans in time to hear Metalicana speaking. "If Laxus has a piece of Aeriolus in his head, and knows how to communicate with it, then we won't have to worry about the two Slayers fighting to the death."

"Who's Aeriolus, Dad?"

"The last Lightning Dragon King who died over a century ago. His tomb was raided around twenty years ago and his Mind and Heart Stones were stolen." Metalicana told his son with a fair amount of ire in his tone.

Igneel knew what Metalicana was thinking and decided it best if the possibility be explained to a certain point. "A genuine Dragon Alpha would have no need to kill Natsu because of his natural personality ranking being that of a Warrior. Warrior ranked powers are valuable to Alphas, as are Hunters. Only Beta ranked personalities would be killed without fail if your Laxus has a piece of an actual dragon's mind fueling his magic. However, if it is only a Dragon Gem that was implanted in him, they will fight to the death because a Dragon Gem holds many of the instincts, and the powers, without the wisdom needed to properly control their instincts or the power of Dragon Force."

A sad looking female suddenly stepped up beside the men who faced Igneel. "If the man named Laxus has a Dragon Gem, how should I change the pathways in Ashkaraka's foundation knowledge to insure that he will not kill the other male when they awaken? At the moment, they are holding a truce because of the Singer's life being in jeopardy, but if all you say comes to pass, they will still kill the Singer by fighting for the right to be her mate."

Sertatsie mind spoke for all the hear. _'Shiv makes a good point. If the male is a hybrid because of possessing an actual Alpha' Dragons knowledge, all is well. If he is a purely human Alpha, things will not end pleasantly once they awaken. The fact this Laxus is described as arrogant is troubling because it makes it more likely that he bears a Dragon Gem and not a piece of true knowledge from the Lightning King.' _

Metalicana hummed which told Igneel the Iron Dragon was thinking over the Ancient Queen's words. Igneel also wondered how to respond to her input. It was rare when dragons formed truly long term family units that included non blood related members. It did happen, but when it involved non blood related groups, membership constantly changed as a rule. Dragon groupings came in two kinds, exaltations which were blood related, and congregations where an older Beta status dragon kept physically mature but unruly younger, yet independent, dragons of the same sex in line. Congregations were not known for having both genders for a reason. Whether stag or doe, dragon instincts could quickly become agitated among youthful groups in mixed gender situations.

"If we were close enough to inspect the gem, we could determine whether Laxus may be willing to form an exaltation without interference. Of course that will only be the case if he inherited one of the Lightning Lord's Mind Lacrima segments." Igneel pointed out.

Gajeel yelled without warning. "What is an exultation, and why have you never told me about them? I've only ever heard of congregations from you in the past, Dad."

"Because exaltations are family units, not stag or doe groups led by an older Beta dragon who keeps young adults in line. Exaltations usually break up when a mated pair's fledglings are grown and can take care of their own needs without supervision. Still, since they tend to get into a fair amount of trouble, Alphas used to appoint Betas to control young adults. To be honest, there hasn't been enough of us alive to require us to form any congregations for close to three hundred years." Metalicana responded.

"I think we need to find out what type of gem your Laxus is carrying, Master Makarov. I dare not go into Ashkaraka's foundation to judge the pathways anymore than absolutely must be done to restrain the Abyss Lord."

"I understand your dilemma, Shiv. We'll have to bring Laxus, Lucy, and Natsu out of the guild infirmary before you undo that veil chain spell you keep on yourself. However, we need to insure we maintain very tight security in case some dark guild tries to use that as an opportunity to attack Lucy. I'm waiting for King Toma's return since he's the one demanding that you use such a dangerous magic to change the outcomes of fate."

Igneel was very uneasy about how the Fey female spoke the name of the Ancient Hall of Judgement that housed the dead not yet ready to be reborn. The gods were the only ones who tread in such a place with impunity. They only entered to free dead souls to return to the reincarnation cycle by granting them new contracts for living. Ashkaraka was a very dangerous place for any living soul to enter, much less try to control."

Igneel lifted his massive wedged head to look at Sertatsie. "Is this little female joking? Ashkaraka is a place that only the gods can come and go at will."

"Shiv is the only one we know about with the ability. In a way she contains a stranger fate than the rest of us Fey have ever been cursed to endure, Igneel." The demonic hide sporting female spoke from her place on the odd wooden contraption that Sertatsie resided upon because of her badly broken form.

"So it would seem. I suppose this means you have some idea of her fate then?" Metalicana questioned.

"Shiv's the one that the Star Phoenix cursed specifically to bear the brunt of carrying a copy of Cosmic Law within herself. We all chose to go into Time Suspension locked away from space and time until she was next needed as the Star Phoenix commanded before the corruption overcame it. The Bane Warriors stand as one, and always shall." Another Fey female with much darker hair responded.

Igneel realized she was an Alpha the moment his eyes landed upon her. Although Igneel had the strangest sensation that the woman was not the strongest powered of the people who he sensed, she wore the mantle of true leadership very well. If she was the kind of Alpha he suspected, it was going to be very interesting to watch her butt heads with other Alphas as they arrived. Especially if the Lightning Dragon Slayer was a genuine Alpha considering the things Igneel had already heard spoken about him. Cunning Alphas were the best ones to control others, and if this female was able to control Spawns, she was indeed formidable.

~~oo0oo~~


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks going out to everyone following, faving, reviewing, or Private Messaging me about this story. As always, whatever the characters know is all the information available as I do not do God View ever. I can see that frustrates some folks, but I believe it makes things all the sweeter as each puzzle piece gets revealed. :) Let me know how you feel about the story so far if you have time :) I happen to enjoy all kinds of reviews, including constructive criticism. I am an erratic update variety person due to real life obligations, so please be patient.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail universe or characters so make no money off this story. I own Original characters I toss into the mix to promote chaos for cannon characters.

CHAPTER 16

Fury did not begin to cover Loke's emotions as he stormed out of Fairy Tail's infirmary after being blocked by the traitorous Fairies. Gripping the Spirit King's Royal Scepter, Loke focused on finding Makarov and Vraylinish as fast as possible. Without the pair coercing the damned arrogant wretches into standing down, Loke knew saving Lucy would be next to impossible. Strong as Loke was, he dared not waste a drop of his magic before breaking the defense spell Aquarius had cast on Lucy during the Tartarus fight. Stopping near the upper level tables and sweeping his eyes over the crowd, Loke bellowed when Makarov's face was not found. "Does anyone know where Master is? I need to talk to him immediately."

"Hey, Loke, what's with the fancy staff in your hand?" Macao asked as the older man's eyes landed on the sceptor.

"I don't have time to explain. I need to know where Master Makarov is." Loke snapped at the older guild member.

Cana intervened. "We saw him follow you into the infirmary, but far as I know Master hasn't left there."

"I just came out of the infirmary. Makarov isn't there any longer" Loke vented as his free hand swept through his hair.

"The King left a little while ago giving the Rune Knights a bunch of orders as he left. I think he took Sabertooth's members with him when he walked out so maybe Master's with him." Max explained.

"Did anyone see Master Makarov with His Majesty when they left?"

"Not that I noticed. So, what's going on, Loke? The way the King was acting has us all worried about what's happening to Lucy, Natsu, and Laxus." Alzack jumped into the conversation.

"I don't have time to chit chat! I need to find Master Makarov before Princess gets drained beyond saving! I need to find him and the Sacred Saint like yesterday, people. She's running out of time and the Fairies are way too arrogant for Princess' good!" Loke lost his temper and exploded at everyone present.

"Whoa, calm down, Loke. We'll help you find the Master." Alzack responded with his hands up in a defensive, yet peaceful position.

Cana, Macao, Alzack, Max, and Bisca all got out of their seats and split up to look throughout the guild. Loke headed to the office but found Makarov was not in his chair. The room was devoid of human life. Only the large stacks of folders and papers covering the massive desk that comprised the Guild's daily paperwork lingered in the silent room. Quickly closing the door, Loke headed back down the hallway toward the main use guild rooms. Checking every closed door along the route, Loke realized that Makarov was not in any of them, not even the Guild's bathroom. Frustration ate at Loke because he needed to get things done, and the Fairies were not going to let him do anything unless Vraylinish forced them to obey.

Aquarius had indeed hidden things about her gate being destroyed. It took the Celestial Spirit King's presence to get the full truth of what had transpired that day out of the surly mermaid. Loke knew that the Celestial Spirit King was already furious over the Fairies meddling with his bloodline. Getting the truth out of Aquarius had only increased their King's wrath to the point that the Celestial Spirit Realm was shuddering under the weight of his power discharges. Some spirits were arguing that as no one had known about the fail safe magic added after they were trapped in the Celestial Realm, Aquarius could not be faulted for trying to save her beloved Lucy from damage during the fight with Zeref's demons. Although everyone agreed the laws should have been upheld, they still felt the rare proof of real love should be taken into account when dispensing justice because of the circumstances.

Although he was far from a saint, Loke understood how rare it was for Aquarius to care for any human's welfare. The Celestial Spirit King thought the previously unknown Fairy spell had twisted Aquarius' forbidden gift into something deadly which only enraged their King more. The one master whom Aquarius had ever loved enough to desire to protect with all her heart was in danger of dying because of the power given with the intention of protecting her from harm short term. Somehow the Fairy spell had twisted a short term spell into a long term and dangerous life draining curse. Even Aquarius had said that the gift was never meant to embed in Lucy's soul the way it had. Time was of the essence if the spell was to be broken in time to save three lives hanging in the balance.

Learning that Aquarius had broken the rules was hard to comprehend considering her personality. To prevent this kind of trouble, the law said no human could be given direct powers belonging to any spirits, especially if those powers were a form of merging. Only objects could be granted to a master by their spirit to insure that spirit powers did not contaminate human masters as had happened because of Aquarius' actions. Aquarius had broken the law, and had to face the consequences of making such a direct power transfer. Aquarius had split off core power and created an automatic protection spell which she attached to Lucy right before her key was broken to call the Celestial Spirit King into the human realm. It was the fact she used core power that made Aquarius guilty of breaking the law.

Aquarius' actions made no sense to the majority of spirits within the Celestial realm because the woman had never truly liked any of her human masters. None of them had suspected how deeply the mermaid adored Lucy before her breaking of the law came to light. The horror on Aquarius's face when she realized her power had become a life threatening problem for Lucy made very clear that Aquarius' heart was shattering over her impulsive action. The many tireless hours Aquarius had spent in the library trying to save her last master was proof that the mermaid cared deeply about Lucy.

If all went well, the Spirit King's Holy Scepter held enough power to break Aquarius' spell, and stop the excessive power drain happening to Lucy's soul. The plan that the Celestial King devised was straightforward. Use the scepter's power to break the spell so that the spell viewed as a corpse to Laxus and Natsu would vanish. Loke knew what he needed to do, but he wanted Makarov on board before fighting with the Fairies currently overseeing Lucy's care again. Makarov could get Vraylinish to agree and Loke needed her help despite trying to avoid the woman for various reasons.

"Loke, where are you? We found them!" He heard someone bellowing and jogged into the main room. Alzack and Bisca were standing in the lower tavern area looking up at the second floor.

"Where is Master Makarov?" Loke demanded as soon as he saw them.

"He's outside with all the dragons. A new one's arrived and the Sacred Saint's with him." Bisca yelled up to him.

With those words, Loke vaulted over the railing and dropped to the first floor. Loke sprinted toward the back door with Bisca and Alzack hot on his heels. Flinging the back door open hard, Loke charged into the training field and swimming pool area behind the Guild. Three huge dragons huddled at the edge of the training grounds were easy to spot so Loke charged toward them as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Makarov, we've got an emergency! I found out what happened to Lucy but the fucking Fairies won't let me undo it!" Loke bellowed as he skidded to a stop near the dragons.

"Calm down my boy." Makarov spoke in a soothing tone as he walked closer.

"No time to be calm. I found out that Aquarius used a power share spell to protect Lucy that's now corroding. I have to break the original spell to stop the power drain that's happening and the fucking Fairies won't let me near my Princess so I can save her!" Loke snarled at the small Wizard Saint facing him.

"Are you sure there is a spell that you can break?" Makarov asked as he tugged at his mustache while walking with Loke back toward the guild hall.

"Yes, damn it! Aquarius admitted that she transferred a portion of her core power to Lucy in an ultimate protection spell during the battle with the Tartarus demons. Aquarius had no idea that the spell could become permanently attached to Lucy's soul so didn't say anything about it until now. It's the only lead we have as to why the extreme life force and magic drain that's happening. The Celestial Spirit King thinks that because Lucy is an Orion bloodline member, the Fairy spell that has enslaved Lucy to the Astral Chains twisted what Aquarius did out of love."

Vraylinish came abreast of Loke as he grabbed the door. "Why do you think the ancient reinforcement spell has twisted the new spell?"

Whirling, fury mounting, Loke felt his teeth grind and pop in protest as he lost control of his rage. "The description and image Warren planted in my head before I left was shared with my King! The Celestial King is the one who says that the Fairies' tampering with the original prison is to blame! Unlike me, His Majesty has perfect recall of his mortal life before he became a Celestial Spirit!"

Makarov's enlarged hand shoved Loke and Vraylinish apart before Loke could unleash a Regulus attack on her to ease his rage with her lack of faith. "Enough, Loke. You have to calm down or I don't dare let you anywhere near the infirmary. Now calm down and explain why the Celestial King thinks that the Fairy magic corrupted Aquarius' protection spell."

Shuddering, Loke tried to tame his rage but felt that he was wasting precious time Lucy no longer had to spare. "The spell Aquarius used gathers a portion of one's core power instead of tapping the stars. Aquarius created a spell that would protect Lucy as if Aquarius was there until Lucy was no longer in danger from the demons. For that reason Laxus described seeing a corpse. The problem is the urn which has an Astral Chain coming out of it. It's an Astral Star Chain! Lucy doesn't know how to build one, but Aquarius does know how because she was a Constellation Temple Priestess. What's coming out of the urn . . . "

"None of this is explaining how your King got the idea the Fairy Spell to reinforce the prison has corrupted anything." Vraylinish interrupted.

"Shut up and let me get to the point. If you won't shut up and let me finish Lucy could die!" Loke roared in return.

Makarov grabbed his arm and drug Loke inside the guild to attempt to keep them from fighting each other. "Finish your explanation, Loke."

"The chain Warren showed us from Laxus perspective looks identical to those which we Spirits use to pull power from the stars. It's that point that is key to understanding how the Fairy's reinforcement spell corrupted Aquarius's protection spell. It's the only thing that explains how an image of Aquarius became embedded in Lucy's soul core. Our King thinks the spell that chains Lucy's life force and magic to feed the prison chains from the original sixteen seals merged the protection spell with Aquarius' ancient power from when we were creating the prison. The secondary spell we didn't know about has merged Lucy's reinforcement spell with Aquarius' duty as a prison keeper and merge d the two within Lucy's soul core. Lucy doesn't know how to build or maintain an Astral Star Chain the way we do! The fact that the urn is spewing out massive amounts of life force onto a literal Astral Star Chain which is unlike the other five is due to Lucy being trapped into Aquarius' duty with no understanding of how to reverse the flow. The urn chain which has attached to Lucy's soul perfectly matches Aquarius' Astral Star Chain within the prison! Even Aquarius admitted that her power's expanding at an alarming rate instead of having the normal amount of drain we always feel even while drawing off the stars because we are the actual prison! The only explanation is that the Fairy spell somehow attached Lucy's core to Aquarius' Astral Star Chain which is one of the literal prison foundations because the Fairies intended to reinforce the damned thing by using living humans!"

Vraylinish snapped at the Fey woman standing behind her. "Shiv, we need to undo this immediately. How long do you need before you can descend?"

"I can begin at any time, but without an Honor Ring to trap the power, it will do damage to the surroundings as I release veil chains, Sacred Saint."

"Get started with your preperations and I'll be quick to round up everyone we need to create a temporary barrier. Tell the Dragons we need their assistance in forming the barrier. They should have plenty of power at their disposal." Vraylinish responded.

"As you wish, Sacred Saint." Shiv nodded and stepped back through the doorway.

"Makarov, do you have anyone capable of using magic that can keep magic contained in a specific area?"

"Yes. I have two Script Mages who specialize in runes and similar barrier making or breaking work." Makarov answered with a furrowed brow.

"I'd like to ask that they also assist in creating the barrier. Out of all our members, Shiv has the most dangerous magic of all. We need to make certain to prevent too much damage as Shiv harnesses her raw power as the veil chains are broken. Once it is harnessed things will be safer, but for Shiv, it is very difficult to restrain her magic for more than a few minutes. Shiv must use as much power as possible whenever she drops the chains because of how much power she has at her core."

"Makarov hummed as he stroked his mustache. Levy will be happy to help, but I have concerns about Freed. He is one of Laxus' closest friends, so he could prove problematic as angry as he is right now."

"Tell him the truth. The friend he cherishes may die if he is unwilling to help because we will have to await your King's pleasure to unlock Shiv's Veil Chains cast to undo the spell corruption. My people are doing all we can to undo this mess without fatalities, Makarov. I'm at wiles and wits end outside of using Shiv's powers combined with yon Lion Spirit's new information to untwist the spell we knew nothing of until now. The longer we tarry, the worse things are getting for those three because the Star Singer's soul is drifting. What was done in the past cannot be undone, but by all I hold sacred I am trying to save their lives!"

"I know, Vraylinish. We both want to save all three of my children. Loke is no different than you or me in this desire. To save all three, we have to work together, and requires trust. Do you understand me, Loke?"

"I understand, Master. Still, it's hard to trust the damned Fairies! They won't let me near Lucy and I have to touch her with the Celestial Scepter to break the spell." Loke snarled in frustration.

"Perhaps there is a way to ease several troubles at once." Vraylinish offered while staring at him Loke realized as his eyes lifted to see her.

"What it is, Vraylinish?" Makarov asked as he turned to look at the thoughtful looking woman.

"I recall several of your Spirit companions helping to fight with the Astral Chains attached to your Princess. How many of them would be willing to return to help my strongest powered elites feed life force power to those three and help us get them stable faster?"

Loke stared at Vraylinish as she continued to watch him in return. Uncertainty gnawed at Loke's heart and mind on the one side, but the fractured Soul core pieces once known as Reagaltiel screamed for him to trust the woman. "What are you saying?"

"My people don't know the girl, or have a strong enough attachment built to her or the men in question to do a direct feed of life energy to them. However, many of you seem to have a strong bond and could act as channels if you're willing to grab hold of Veil Chains as they are unwinding and syphon off the extra power recoiling when the Veils break loose from our bindings."

Considering what Vraylinish was describing, Loke felt his eyes widen as some of the ancient lore, which he could still access from the many lives that created him, began to surface. Fey half bloods had incredible power but t was never truly stable. The Fairy blood and magic tended to fight the human blood and life force more often than not. The power was painful and most Fey hybrids suffered horrific deaths before reaching adulthood. If the Celestial Spirits could harness, and dampen the raw power of the two blood types fighting for the purpose of returning strength to Lucy and the two men upstairs, it would make stabilizing her far easier.

"Only Virgo and I are currently strong enough to force open our own gates. The Celestial Spirit King has the power to authorize opening the other gates without a key holder's contract and that means he would have to clear such a plan."

"How long would you need to get permission, Loke?" Vraylinish asked.

"Not sure. But, I can use the Sector to contact his Majesty and let you explain the additional proposals to the spell breaking." Loke conceded.

Makarov placed a hand on Loke's forearm. "If it will help Lucy, do you think the Celestial Spirit King will allow them to cross over, Loke?"

"Of course. Lucy saved all of us when we were corrupted by the Eclipse Gate. The whole Celestial Spirit realm holds a debt of gratitude which we can never hope to repay in Lucy's lifetime, Makarov. Lucy saved our King from the insanity of the corruption and stopped him from destroying our world, and releasing the Abyss Lord. How could any of us fail to help Lucy if it is within our power?"

"What do you need to make contact with the Spirit King so Vraylinish and I can speak with him?" Makarov asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"We need a large communication lacrima and a gold stand." Loke answered without hesitation.

"Let's go to my office. I've got one that should fit our needs since I have to talk to the Magic Counsel so often." Makarov answered and headed into the guild proper.

Loke followed the small man into the main tavern area. Before Makarov could take the stairs, Vraylinish spoke up. "I'll put my people into action. Have your people meet mine where the dragons are, Makarov. I'll be there to talk with the Celestial Spirit King as soon as I have outlined as much of the plan as we have in place explained to my warriors."

"Of course. We'll be waiting for you." Makarov answered and trotted up the stairs.

Loke followed his old Guild Maser up the stairs and paused when Makarov side tracked to the upper floor tavern area. Within moments he had singled out Jet and spoke to him for several moments. A frown covered the light haired speed mage's face, but after a few more words the man nodded and got up from his seat. With quick strides, Jet went over to Mirajane and spoke to her. The last glance Loke had of the pair, Mirajane was shaking her head in the negative before Loke had to turn and follow Makarov to his office.

"Sending Jet after Freed, Master?"

"He is the fastest mage we have. Jet can find out where Freed and the others may have gone on a mission and get them turned around. I'm not too sure as to how quickly we can get them back here if they did take a train, but it is worth a try. I told him to see if Vraylinish has a portal master who can open gateways long distance through items before leaving."

"So you've heard about how they used uncut gems carried by their scouts for creating gates it seems." Loke heard his anger leaking as his words left his mouth.

"Yes. It seems it is a rare ability, almost as rare as being a Celestial Spirit Mage even during their own era. Now it is a Lost Magic because of the kind of power required to do such feats. The things they can do alone takes a dozen S class mages to accomplish. The Ancients are truly terrifying so I don't blame you for being uneasy around them, Loke. Still, I am certain Vraylinish is doing all in her power to save Lucy, Laxus and Natsu. We need to extend trust, even if it is difficult right now."

Recognizing that Master Makarov was correct to lecture him, Loke heaved a heavy sigh. Following the main into his office and dropping into a seat that was offered, Loke tried to explain his feeling. "It's hard when I'm so afraid the Fairies will do something and we'll lose the best Celestial Mage we've had in centuries, Master. The more human looking, and larger Fairies were always inordinately bored which makes them vicious. They aren't the types to care who gets hurt or what the consequences are when they are amusing their selves. Vraylinish may be annoying because she doesn't want to accept I'm not the person she once knew, but that's separate from the more critical Fairy problem."

"Vraylinish claims there was a lot of dissent among Fairies about the way humans and other species were treated, Loke. She said that other than two among her group, the rest are all pro human and other species being treated with dignity and honor. The one she said to be on alert around was Skuhldra because she is a full Darkling, same as the She Wolf's male Fairy mate, Raymord."

"You would do well to avoid their mates also, Master Makarov. Let Vraylinish handle them at all times. Darklings are dangerous at the best of times. They are ten times worse when it involves their Soul Bonds. I recall that much from the lore I reclaimed through the Celestial Library, and from the fragments of memories I can still dredge up from that era."

"Yes. I'm aware since Vraylinish did explain the problem with Full Darklings versus the normal Darklings. The difference in love capacity and how it twists their character has much to do with the difference as I understand things. Full Darklings have very strong emotions according to Vraylinish."

"Exactly. They can with the help of their light Soul Bond Mates tap very deep levels of the One Magic due to loving their Soul Bonds. It creates a near unstoppable force because they do embrace unconditional love for such mates. However, among the two Vraylinish warned you about, I recall Skuhldra, and she won't allow full merging of minds with her light Soul Bond mate. Zayden and Nadhasti have a hard time controlling their Darkling because Skuhldra withholds part of her mind for concocting devious ideas meant to protect them."

Makarov nodded as he sat in his chair after setting up the communication lacrima. "Vraylinish did warn me about how Darklings will stop at nothing to protect their loved ones, Loke. The fear of Lucy dying and the Abyss Lord getting free is enough for the two I was warned about to force the breaking of the Astral Chains to be moved to others without consideration of Lucy's welfare. It is one of the reasons that Braydon and his family are in charge of Lucy's care. Vraylinish knows Braydon will protect Lucy, even if it makes you angry. Braydon won't be fooled even if he is the dark half of his core Soul bond pairing."

"I'm not going to do anything that will kill Lucy if I can avoid it. Braydon is the dark side of the bond as far as the memory remnants tell me, but he also used his dark power to protect humans and other races. I know he is doing the best he can to insure I haven't been corrupted by Skuhldra or Raymord, Master Makarov." Loke growled.

"Loke, never forget that love has a strong influence on most beings, including the higher clan Fairies. Kendren and Embradia are both wonderful people as far as I can tell. They both want to see everyone in the infirmary to be healed. Braydon knows that is what they want, and I see him trying hard to insure it happens."

Loke sat in the chair fiddling with the Royal Sector as Makarov continued to lecture him. It was not that Loke did not see where Makarov was coming from because Loke did in fact get the Master's perspective. He simply hated knowing that Makarov did not have any concrete experience with dealing in Fairy hijinks. Fairies were not like humans, and the Darklings were by far the most dangerous beings Earthland ever had to handle.

"Makarov, I know what you are trying to say, and I do understand your points. The problem is you have no idea what Darklings are like because you've never dealt with them. We Spirits do remember dealing with them, and it is knowing the truth of their pranks that makes me hate them so much. Braydon is one of the nicer ones, but never forget that he isn't human, nor does he have human emotions or thoughts."

Vraylinish pushed open the door and stepped into the room. Her brows were furrowed as she closed the door behind her. "You speak truth, Loke. Fairies are not human in any way. Still, thy are not as bad as everyone human wants to believe either. They do the best they can with their antiquated minds. Ancient memories tend to muddle some of their reactions."

Loke snorted. "I think it goes well beyond muddled memories. They don't have compassion for others and would be just as content to kill Princess and the two men they Soul Bonded to her without explaining anything about the spell."

Vraylinish heaved a sigh as she settled into another chair. "You also speak truth on this point, Loke. However, it is only because Fairies do not understand individuality as humans perceive it. They are born tied to another and opposite being. They change who they are bound to as they reach maturity, and only chose their polar opposite because they cannot fathom anything else."

Loke watched as Makarov hummed while considering the conversation. "We have to save my children either way, Vraylinish. I won't tolerate Lucy and my grandson or even Natsu dying if I can prevent it."

"Understood. I am the same. Fairies like all other creatures, have flaws. Yet I understand those flaws and can get around them. Leave them to me, and you won't be sorry for granting me good faith. Now let's get this plan completely ironed out and talk to the Celestial King." Vraylinish responded as she leaned closer to the desk. Loke wondered how long this was going to take as he placed the scepter against the communication lacrima's gold base in preparation to open the channel.

~~oo0oo~~


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks for every follow, fave, and much appreciated review. I apologize for ongoing typos and dyslexic moments in the chapters I have posted so far. I've been posting a genuine raw draft minus my normal read through and grammar fixes. This story will get repaired. I'm thinking of combining some chapters when I do the revision. I know that I should streamline to remove redundancies plus bad grammar, and I will when I am feeling a bit better. Not sure how people feel about longer chapters, so please give me feed back since longer chapters will be one of the side effects of doing a heavy revision in some spots. 2 person POV separated by ==oo0oo==

CHAPTER 17

"Nobody has entered the woman's apartment since I started the stake out yesterday afternoon. Maybe she's on a mission?" Ikaruga's newest teammate, Titus spoke as he leaned against the hotel room wall once Ikaruga had closed the hotel room door.

"Heartfilia being on a mission is possible. We discover her location and dispose of her closest companions as soon as we know where she's located. It shouldn't take long to discover her whereabouts because Callista is spying on the guild hall right now. People who are relaxed don't think to guard what they say." Ikaruga reminded the younger man as she sat on the edge of his bed.

The bed belonged to Titus. However, with Vidaldus Taka along for this mission, they had to keep the man hidden to prevent anyone from recognizing him. Being confined to a hotel room did not please Taka, but Ikaruga did not care. The longer Vidaldus remained out of sight, the better if they were going to complete this mission with minimum hassles. Too many Fairy Tail Mages would recognize the man if only because he had such recognizable, ground dragging hair attached to his head. Vidaldus Taka's infamous hair looked a touch oily to Ikaruga's eyes as the older man locked his hands together, elbows on his knees while staring at her new teammate with a touch of malice in his black eyes. If not for his ability to control women with his guitar, Ikaruga would never have invited her original teammate from Trinity Raven on this mission. However, controlling the two Celestial Mages with the man's 'Rock of Succubus' and hair magic was preferable to damaging them constantly once they were found. Their employer wanted the two girls alive, for ingredients which made Vidaldus necessary.

The compact, yet lithe young man leaned back against the hotel wall as he looked out the window. Fair haired and innocent looking, Titus was becoming one of the most effective killers from the latest crop of Death's Head Caucus newcomers. His baby face convinced most people that Titus was sweet natured, and harmless. Titus used his innocent looks as a lethal weapon to get close to his victims, and escape capture. Because he dressed in non rescript, drab colored clothing, people simply overlooked Titus whenever he slipped into the crowd to make good his escape after killing his targets.

"We'll have to see what Callista reports when she gets back. Maybe she'll overhear something from guild members leaving their shop so we don't have to waste time hunting the woman and her companions down." Taka responded as he flung his excessively long black hair back onto his bed, looking irritated and bored.

"All in good time. It's getting later in the day, and those Fairies should be getting drunk enough to prove easier to handle no matter the situation. If Heartfilia is around, we'll leave her capture to you, Vidaldus. The rest of us can kill off her trouble maker friends. After all, drunken mages make more mistakes." Ikaruga spoke with a mischievous grin.

"Depends on the mage, Sensei. Drunken magic requires the mage be so drunk they can't stand straight. Bacchus is the best example of that, and I've heard that Fairy Tail has a Woman who uses a similar magic base, only combined with some kind of Card Magic." Titus responded with a furrowed brow. "It would be better to ambush the targets in their homes to complete this mission, preferably after they have fallen asleep so that we don't have any alarms raised to prevent us from attaining our live capture goals."

A sharp knock on the door in a staccato beat followed by a pause and another series of raps heralded Callista's return. Ikaruga nodded and Titus went to open the door. The lavender haired woman walked into the room and twirled around to see who was present while Titus closed the door. She flipped her long bangs from her eyes as she settled onto the bed beside Ikaruga.

Smoothing her knee length skirt, Callista frowned at everyone. "Things are chaotic at the Fairy Tail Guild. A large number of Rune Knights showed up, and are still there. Also, real dragons are hanging out by their swimming pool. Looks like this job is going to be very difficult to pull off no matter what we plan."

Ikaruga felt her brows plunge toward her nose as irritation leapt to the fore. "Is Fairy Tail getting disbanded for all the damage they create everywhere they go? It's the only reason I can think of to explain a lot of Rune Knights being there."

"I don't think so. I overheard three members arguing about the situation when they left the Guild. From what I heard, some of their members were attacked by unusual magic a couple days ago, Ikaruga. The attackers are currently confined at Fairy Tail, and so the Rune Knights have been brought in to get everything sorted out. The one weirdo from that group was bitching about how their leader should not be tied to some wimpy Cheerleader the way he has been by whatever this magic spell is." Callista answered.

Vidaldus spoke up. "Wonder if the situation can be used to our advantage? If we learn more about what's going on and the mentioned attack someone else can take the blame for the missing Mage, Lay the blame on whoever's behind the magical attack mentioned by making our strike look like it's the same people. The authorities will assume it's the same group which covers our tracks. Makes it easier to deliver the woman without having anyone breathing down our necks while we're on the move."

Ikaruga smirked. "Very good points, Vidaldus. We should find out more about the last attack, and craft our plans to throw off pursuit once we have Heartfilia in hand. Callista can use her magic to deflect attention away from herself and spy on the guild in the meantime. Once we have enough information about the attack, we'll use it to our advantage."

Callista shrugged and stood up. "Fine. I'll head back and listen to that Guild's gossip again."

"Be back here with an update before midnight. The rest of us will rest up for immediate action in the meantime." Ikaruga responded as the woman moved closer to the door.

"As you wish. I'll determine whether or not the attackers can be freed during our main strike so that their flight will help cover our tracks also."

Ikaruga smirked. "An excellent idea, Callista. Springing them would indeed prove beneficial to our job."

With those words, Callista opened the door and headed back into the city of Magnolia. The remainder of the assassin team gave each other nods of understanding. It was time to sleep before they carried out their plans.

==oo0oo==

Makarov was fascinated by everything he saw the Ancients doing to set up the spell they planned to cast as the afternoon sun cast elongated shadows across the ground. The grim visages of the men and women participating somewhat unnerved the Wizard Saint, and Guild Master of Fairy Tail. Lore made clear that most ancient magic was wild, untamable, and outright dangerous, even to the castors. The earliest forms of magic such as these hybrids practiced seemed to up the ante on danger if everyone was taking so many precautions before doing anything at all.

To see three Centaurs setting up an honor's ring by using fairly large rocks accumulated from the surrounding forest piqued Makarov's interest. The trio had brought back rocks with fairly strong veins of crystal within their matrixes. The fact that all the stones were partially crystalline in nature was one of many things Makarov made note of as he watched the process unfold. Every one of the stones used included veins of Amethyst, Quartz, Andalucite, Beryl, or Dragon's Eye crystals from what Makarov could recognize as he watched the Ancients working. Several Rune Knights also watched the process as the three hulking beings placed the diverse types of raw gemstones they had unearthed into a large ring shape.

"How much longer until they get their rocks set up to suit them do you think?" One of the Rune Knights asked his partner.

"Who knows? It's probably some kind of superstitious nonsense that makes them feel more comfortable. So long as Runes are in place to keep things secure, I really don't care what they do. His Majesty wants this done so let them do whatever they think they need to so we can get this over with faster." The other answered as the pair leaned against the Guild wall.

Makarov sighed over their ignorance of stone's many applications when channeling magic. A derisive snort from one the dragons behind him had Makarov turning his head to see what was the matter. Catching the red Dragon's eye, Makarov tilted his head and turned to face Natsu's father.

"Short of an obvious magic infused lacrima, you youngsters probably have no understanding of many crystal applications. All gems have effects upon how magic can be funneled and used based upon core constructs within each type of crystal matrix. Different crystals magnify specific elements of magic. These Centaurs are intent upon using these raw stones for a very intentional channel for the magic to be unleashed." Igneel spoke loud enough for the Rune Knights to hear his words.

To ease the sudden stiffness of the Knights, Makarov began speaking. "I thought as much, Igneel sama. I don't recognize all the types of crystals being used, but I can identify that the types of crystal colorations are clustered in a very strict yet alternating color pattern."

The thought orb of the Creation Queen dropped near his side as Sertatsie entered the conversation _'Yes. They are matching frequencies of stone so that the magic will remain in the proper channels once Shiv drops her Veil Chains and the power begins to rise. The order of the different types of stone will divert excess energy into specific stones within the ring. Once charged by the magic, the capture stones will get replaced by new stones if this ring remains. Honor Ring stones that hold charges are used in making many magical items.' _

"I see. Thank you for the explanation, Sertatsie sama. I'm wondering how the Centaurs go about finding such stones in such a short amount of time." Makarov continued the conversation.

'_Centaurs are very sensitive to energy in all it's forms. Crystals give off an energy that has a different feeling based upon crystal type to their race. Centaurs have always been drawn to many crystal matrix stones because they feel subtle vibrations that other races cannot sense. When it comes to making magical implements, the Centaurs have no equals among other races due to their ability to find that which the rest of us cannot.' _

Makarov pondered the ancient dragon's words as he swung back to watch the Centaurs continued progress in setting up the ring. Specific stones had purple striations, while others had reddish hues interspersed with earthy tans. All the stones were set out in specific numbers by their colors. Milky white through almost clear bands were the most prevalent colored stones that Makarov saw. Blue green hues mixed with yellows and even pinks which had been spaced between the white, red, and purple dominated crystal containing rocks.

"So which stones are intended to hold excess magic in this case?" Makarov asked as he turned back to the dragons.

"The Dragons Eye stones will most likely be the holder stones in this case. The majority of the stones are Quartz based crystals. Amethyst is a good healing stone, and will help stabilize the Star Singer and both Slayers life force when they are brought out. Dragon's Eye is a survival stone, so it will likely be used as a magical beacon for Shiv's dive into the Ashkaraka Foundations to alter the pathways. It should act as the required beacon to allow Shiv to return safely. Because Beacon stones are so valuable, they will be used as place holders for the Gate Masters among their two hundred members if we have to fight the Abyss Lord." Metalicana was the one to answer.

"What about the blue green and pink stones, dad?" Gajeel asked as he looked up at his father.

One of the Centaurs trotted closer and answered before Metalicana. "All of them are types of Beryl so will help protect, and increase Shiv's focus, and fortify the strength of the three we seek to aide. Each stone is being set up with a duty as it is being placed so that the magic will only increase the resonance of each task set into it."

Makarov stepped back before he looked up at the huge black and white furred Centaur. It was his only option if he was going to converse with the huge stallion who was taking time to explain the process. "Thank you. I apologize for having forgotten your name. Could you please remind me?"

"I am RoMordian. No need to be sorry as this is the first time we've spoken to each other."

"Thank you for the explanation, RoMordian san. Outside of lacrimas, we don't really use gems except for jewelry. This is all lost knowledge for the most part so I find it fascinating to watch you setting this honor ring up the way you are. I'm sure that my guild would love to learn more about this kind of lore whenever the crisis is resolved. I'm sure there is much we can learn from each other." Makarov said.

A whicker reminiscent chuckle left the big stallion's human looking throat. "Is that so?"

"Of course. My Brats might be angry at the moment, but that's because Fairy Tail mages view everyone in our guild as family. Seeing a sister or brother injured makes everyone mad in this guild. Once everyone is healthy again, things will change and the current temperamental problems will cease to exist. I do know how all my children respond to the world, and this time won't be any different."

"Master Makarov is right, RoMordian. When I was part of Phantom Lord, I was given the task of starting a war with Fairy Tail. After Phantom was disbanded by the Magic Council, but I found a new home here in Fairy Tail. It took a couple of months to prove myself, but even the people I attacked forgave me and accepted me as part of their family once they knew I was sincere." Gajeel surprised Makarov by backing him.

RoMoridian shifted his weight to rest one of his hind hooves as he considered what was said. "It is understandable that the lore lost by the movement of time is desirable. The Sacred Saint will ultimately decide what knowledge will be given, and if anything should be sought in return. Much depends upon the outcome of the Star Singers, and whether we can keep the Abyss Lord trapped. All that really matters is protecting those who are the cornerstones of the demon's ongoing confinement as far as we Centaurs are concerned."

Makarov nodded his agreement. "Very true. Since your people have already removed all the excess chains from your own Orion bloodline Singer, I can see how important it is to insure that we won't lose them a second time. Watching how the extra chains are killing our Guild's beloved Celestial Spirit Mage is quite sobering. Lucy is the Light of our Guild in so many ways, so losing her is not an option. We will all do everything in our power to protect the Star Singers who came out of Time Suspension to help us keep this Abyss Lord locked away."

"Mistress Vraylinish will not allow your Star Singer to die, or her newly Soul Bonded males. Despite the difficulties caused when we first arrived, things will improve for everyone as we have the same goal in protecting this world. Speaking truth will prevent misunderstandings in the future."

"I don't know where you get your confidence about improvements from considering how things are going to go down once our friends awaken. Bunny Girl's going to be furious once she wakes up and has to deal with two Dragon Slayers fighting over her. Although she forgives almost everything easily, I'm not sure that she will be able to forgive this level of fuck up for a while." Gajeel growled at the Centaur.

"A fair point, Dragon Slayer. Like my leader, I agree that ignorance on both sides created a grave disservice to the Star Singer and the two Slayers who are now bound to her for the rest of their lives. If they choose to hold a grudge toward us, I will accept their fury because it would be an ever greater disservice to them to refuse them their honest feelings. We do hope that they will settle into their new lives with little difficulty for their ongoing well being even if it must come at the price of life long hatred for our people." RoMordian answered as he shifted his weight and pawed the ground a couple times.

Metalicana hummed, drawing Makarov's eyes. "It seems your fellow Centaurs are done setting up the ring, RoMordian. What's next on the list of things to complete?"

Makarov faced the Centaur. RoMordian snorted as he looked over the impressive sized ring with his arms akimbo. "Next step is to bring the three ailing humans out here and place them inside the ring where we will build a secondary lesser shield. Then we'll have to close the ring and build the main barrier so Shiv can release her Veil Chains and make the decent while the Celestial Spirit begins breaking down the corrupted spell. Once the corrupted spell is gone, the other spirits will take power from Vraylinish and Ragin to give to their Mistress and her males while Shiv is sorting out the pathways and bringing them back to their forms so that they can awaken soon."

Makarov heard his name as soft angry voices moved closer. "Excuse me. Looks like one of my brats is calling for me."

Slipping past the large Centaur, Makarov strode along the side of the guild building where he found Jet arguing with Bickslow, and Evergreen as he led them toward their destination. From the looks of Freed's expression, the green haired man seemed irritated with everyone involved in the argument.

Trying to ease the man's mind, Makarov spoke up as he closed upon the four. "Thank you for coming, Freed."

"I'm not certain that I understand what is going on from Jet's message. Care to explain the situation, Master?" Freed responded with his arms crossed over his chest.

Makarov nodded because he understood the reason for the Thunder Legion members anger even if it was not helping resolve anything. "Loke needs to break a spell that was placed on Lucy by one of her Spirits during the battle against the Tartarus demons. Unfortunately, the curse that was put on the Orion Lineage several thousand years ago altered what was supposed to be a short duration protection spell and is now blocking any chance of Laxus and the others awakening. We need to undo the spell, and that will require help from several sources. I am asking for your help in saving all their lives, Freed."

"How do you propose to save them, Master?" Freed asked as he stepped beside Makarov and matched his stride as Makarov headed back toward the ring.

Knowing that Freed would need to understand the basics of the operation, Makarov began talking as they closed on their destination. "We're using a multiple prong series of spells to bring all three back to the way they need to be to awaken safely. Loke will remove the corrupted protection spell that was cast on Lucy months ago to drop the amount of drain happening to her life force. We've also got the Celestial Spirit King's help in the form of several of Lucy's Zodiac spirits being sent here to act as power stabilizers to feed additional magical energy into Lucy, Laxus, and Natsu to strengthen all of their life forces so they won't be at risk of dying. A couple of the Ancients have volunteered to supply the bulk of their own life force for that stage of the process. One of the Ancients also has an ability that allows her to open pathways which will let her insure that all three of our guild mates spirits are fully contained in their bodies so they can awaken faster. We are setting up a barrier area, and will need to have multiple layers of shielding in place for these spells to work correctly. I need your help creating some of the needed protection barriers, Freed. I want to make certain that nothing goes wrong at any point because the magic involved will be fatal for everyone if any kind of energy taint gets through while the Spirits and Mages are saving our guild mates. Levy will be helping you set up the barriers that are needed along with several of the Fey Warriors."

Makarov ignored Bickslow's snarled commentary about his take on the current plan as he looked up at Freed's thoughtful expression. The anger in Bickslow's tirade about the Ancients were not helpful under the circumstances, and Jet was not handling it well enough Makarov decided. Still, Makarov kept his focus on Freed who had a role in saving Laxus.

Bickslow jumped in front of him, stopping Makarov in his tracks and demanded, "How do you know that these bastards won't screw Laxus over again, Master? They've done a lot of harm already so I don't believe any of them should be involved. Cosplayer's spirits can save all three of them without the barbarians getting another opening to do even more damage. I trust the Celestial Spirits, but not these weirdos from the past."

"I understand your anger, Bickslow. However, I also recognize that the actions these strangers have taken, which you find so offensive, were born out of desperation to save lives. Nothing I have seen gives me reason to believe the Bane Warriors had any desire to harm anyone when they did what they did to stabilize Lucy. If anything, I see them trying to make amends for their mistake! Furthermore, His Majesty, Toma E. Fiore has ordered our cooperation in making sure all attempts to save their lives, and this nation, are embraced without reservation so that the Abyss Lord cannot get loose. The decision on who participates is in His Majesty's hands, not mine. The whole country's welfare may be at stake so we will follow our King's command. They offered to do all that they can to reverse the situation that they unwittingly caused because they had no idea that thousands of years have passed since they were last here. Even their leader admits that the Fairies within their ranks can't always be trusted so they are not allowed to participate in this plan. Keeping our people alive is our priority. If the curse kills Lucy, it also kills Laxus, and Natsu at this point. Saving their lives comes first. We'll fix whatever else we can day by day, . . . once they're out of immediate danger." Makarov pointed out in a clipped tone.

Bickslow clenched his fists as his babies flared with a magical spark before settling down. "What if they're lying to us?"

"Two prime aged dragons are here to insure that they don't lie and cause any additional problems. Igneel is adamant that Natsu will be saved and he's willing to kill to make sure his demands get met. All the Fey are aware of how the Fire dragon King views this situation. Our visitors aren't stupid enough to antagonize both Igneel and Metalicana at the same time, Bickslow. They don't want an all out war with two powerful dragons any more than we want such an outcome. Now, let's move so Freed can help save Laxus and the others."

Makarov watched as Bickslow's jaw dropped, but the man did step aside. Freed remained next to him, Makarov noted from the corner of his eye as he walked up to the large black and white Centaur. "RoMordian, this is Freed, our other Script Mage. Please explain to him the types of barriers you'll need him to help build. Work with RoMordian to the best of your ability, Freed. Laxus is depending upon you to help them all get back safely."

With those words Makarov turned and clamped his hand onto Bickslow's arm before he could say anything and drug the angry Seith Mage out of the way. Gajeel chortled as they drew up beside the Iron Dragon Slayer. Makarov did not need words to understand Gajeel's amusement. Evergreen and Bickslow tried to make their discomfort with the three dragons less obvious, but failed. Their faces lost what color it had before, and they both could not control their slight shivers, quick glances, and rapid breathing.

Several minutes passed as the various spell participants completed the final preparations. Makarov did not feel the need to speak since he was interested in the various steps involved with casting ancient magic. Bickslow and Evergreen also remained silent, most likely due to the dragons within biting range. Their silence suited Fairy Tail's Master very well. Neither would interfere, nor distract anyone else because of the looming danger Igneel's huge body provided without the need of making any threats.

Makarov watched as pairs of Rune Knights brought Laxus, Lucy, and Natsu out of the Guild's back door. He motioned the two Knights who had Laxus' stretcher over to the dragons. The pair were obviously afraid but obeyed when Shiv and Vraylinish offered to take the stretcher and do the task for them. Within moments, Igneel was studying the gem in Laxus head.

With a quick word as Igneel's eyes glowed, a seal appeared and Laxus glowed for several seconds. "We're in luck, it is a piece of Aeriolus' mind that he received. The seal to hide the knowledge away within the stone has been released so that Laxus can access the information he needs. Have him come talk to us once he recovers from the drain he's experienced recently. I'll teach him how to access the information at will so you won't have to worry about the two fighting to the death if the Binding cannot be undone. This male is an Alpha so he can gain my son's obedience if he so chooses to exercise his natural rights. His lacrima knows what to do whenever action is needed if he bothers to heed the knowledge."

"Thank you, Igneel. Such an offer is much appreciated. You're everything Natsu claims you to be, and then some." Makarov responded with genuine gratitude.

"Time to begin creating the barriers. Save your flattery, little Guild Master, as I have no need of it." Igneel rumbled before he moved toward the Honor Ring.

Metalicana was also on the move. Sertatsie simply extended her long neck to get to her position among the various ancients stepping next to the multitude of stones. Makarov watched as Freed and Levy began creating a shield around Laxus, Natsu, and Lucy who were laying between them on stretchers. Loke stood beside Lucy's head with the Celestial King's scepter in hand. Raising the long stone scepter, Loke shot energy into the air. Seconds later a gate appeared and many of Lucy's Celestial Spirits stepped forward to take their places on the other side of the shield that was being created. Vraylinish and a Fey man positioned themselves near the seven Zodiac Spirits who were waiting to do their part.

Shiv gave a nod and the outer circle began to sing an strange refrain in their ancient language. Power spiraled and hurtled around the area, flowing into the stones which began to glow and vibrate as the shields began to form into visible walls of variegated colors. The power continued to rise until it formed a dome and sealed the area within a writhing, whirling mass of energy forces that interlocked so nothing could get inside, or leave. The various colors shifted and warped into a strange parody of rainbows that corkscrewed and twisted like soap bubbles contaminated with oil as the power grew into an audible decibel of genuine sound. A glance at the ground revealed brilliantly glowing stones within the circle. The flows of color blended and shifted as streamers of power flowed in different directions among the stones to form a latticework pattern of energy filaments. The colorful filaments rose higher within the restricted area that the stones alone seemed to anchor.

Makarov was speechless as he watched the ancient barrier rising and sealing off those within the ring. Barriers had never felt nor resembled the one he was witnessing at this moment. Boxes that erupted from visible rings of seals with writing were familiar, but ropes of power exploding out of and wrapping around a physical person before swirling outward to join other ropes was an all new experience. The physical pressure threatened to force all the bystanders to their knees as raw energy rippled, crackled, and sought to escape into the atmosphere. How were the ancients managing to bend their power without any kind of extra limiters guiding their power? Only their voices and physical movements held the overlapping magical flows together. If anyone of them altered their perceptions, lost concentration, or mis-spoke a chant, the barrier could explode, or implode due to any instability in Makarov's opinion.

The sheer amount of power used was another shock for Makarov. Wasting magical energy was uncommon in modern spells. Even the most powerful spells were designed to minimize the drain upon the users. Many spells allowed a group to share the drain equally among those that required multiple mages to work. Nothing about this cast implied any regulation of power existed to control the raw channeling. Makarov was starting to understand why Loke described Fey magic the way he had since the hybrids had returned. The power sizzling across the barrier's surface was as wild, untamed, and explosive feeling as Loke had warned him to expect for the majority of Ancients' spells. Yet Makarov had not grasped how much lethal power a single spell could contain until now.

Several Rune Knights were present, for added security measures. All fo them were shaking and close to panic over the fierce forces that had been unleashed. A brilliant explosion of light from where Shiv was standing before the force field grew warned Makarov that the Fey woman was releasing the Veil Chain spell cast upon herself. Just as Makarov began to adjust to the heavy pressure, the earth beneath his feet began to shiver. The barrier also shuddered, but held as the light ripped and roared across the interior surface of the barrier spell. The area where Freed and Levy had erected a rune ruled shield remained darker, but the light appeared to be pushing the modern rune boundary toward the stone ring's edge.

More bursts of brilliant yet explosive light accompanied stronger quakes that had Makarov staggering to remain on his feet. Unable to see through the blinding light trapped within the barrier, Makarov hoped that everyone was safe. He could hear new voices added to the softer, ongoing chant from the men and women controlling the outermost barrier spell who also struggled to remain standing as the ground trembled beneath them. A strong, unearthly voice rose and fell in counterpoint to the group's repetitious verses. The excess light began to coalesce into a singular position inside the wall of magic acting as a buffer. As the writhing magic bands solidified, Makarov could hear a multitude of masculine and feminine voices entwined. A clear solitary female voice responded. Without warning, the brilliant shaft of light winked out of existence.

Makarov was better able to see within the sphere of magic as the energies stabilized fully with the disappearance of the light pillar. The Guild Master watched as Loke placed the Royal Scepter across Lucy's body and began to remove the warped protection spell. Freed and Levi looked badly shaken as the colorful barrier gained even more transparency despite the popping of excess electricity that continued popping and flaring over the magical skin of the shield. As Makarov and the rest of the bystanders watched, the pair released the rune barrier to allow the Zodiac Spirits access to the three Fairy Tail Mages who were getting treated..

Lucy's Zodiac Spirits, looking a bit battered, took positions around the three prone people they intended to save. Each Celestial Spirit held a chain within their hands that pulsed and squirmed with power. Once the Scepter stopped glowing as it pulled the corrupted spell out of Lucy, the various Celestial Spirits placed their hands upon Laxus, Lucy and Natsu to push life stabilizing power into each body.

Makarov searched the ring again but did not see Shiv anywhere within the stones' confinement zone even though he increased his own size so he was taller than the Ancient mages feeding the barrier. Several minutes passed as the Celestial Spirits continued to take power flashing down the cords they held from Vraylinish and her male companion and give it to the sleeping trio. All three were visibly pulsating and glowing by the time the Celestial Spirits withdrew.

Vraylinish and her male counterpart did a series of dance like motions as they intoned, with elongated sounds, the spell needed to draw the eerie ropes back around their forms before all of the living, wiggling vine like cords slammed into the ground and vanished from sight. Another mild ripple slipped outside of the ring. Nonetheless, watching Freed and Levy windmill their arms to remain standing implied that inside the barrier experienced stronger shaking.

Makarov wondered if the spell was completed and when the shield would be dropped so that he could check upon his family members to insure they were alright. Listening to the shift in speed coming from the outer barrier maintaining group, Makarov was a bit confused. The singsong quality was speeding up and shifting into a higher octave range. Furrowing his brow, Makarov watched as Laxus, Lucy and Natsu began to rise in the air as a spiraling energy began to push them off the grassy earth, making all three levitate.

Loke was forced to step back as were several of Lucy's other Spirits as the stretchers rose into the air. The goat headed Spirit positioned himself on one end of Laxus cot while the bull headed one stood ready to grab the bars at the opposite end. Loke slid the scepter onto the ground and positioned himself to grab the handles on Lucy's cot. A pink, horn wearing female Spirit stood ready to grab the other end. Another female Spirit wearing a maid's uniform and a male wearing a horse head costume took their places on either side of Natsu's levitating cot to grab the poles and prevent any of their human charges from crashing.

The audible sounds of cracking led to the sound of countless shrieks as a shadow appeared within the swirling whirlpool of magic. A beast like form seemed to lift out the earth, only to be slapped down by a smaller human looking shadow as a voice that seemed inhuman snarled in an unknown language. Before Makarov could do more than clench his fists, a single person flew from the spiraling vortex of magic at an astonishing speed to slam into the barrier at the farthest side. The person hit the barrier hard, and dropped like a sack of flour to the ground. The spinning vortex collapsed with a booming tone as if a massive vault door were slammed shut. Vraylinish raced to the person's side and bent over them which blocked Makarov's vision. The Spirits lunged to grab the free falling stretchers with their precious human cargos before the three could hit the ground.

The men and women creating the barrier lessened their power and the barrier energy sank into the barrier stones. Levi and Freed dropped as if invisible strings holding them up had been cut. Twin blue Spirits that floated in the air slipped over to where Vraylinish and others were congregating around Vraylinish, and the person that Makarov realized had to be Shiv, further hampering his ability to determine if the woman was alright. The two Celestial Spirits turned into a single replica of Wendy and pushed into the group of Fey people. Makarov had heard that one of Lucy's Celestial Spirits, Gemini by name, was able to copy and use different Mage's powers.

Makarov stepped closer to the Celestial Spirits and began to speak. "Did it work, Loke? Is the corruption gone so Lucy and the others can heal now?"

Loke was trembling with exhaustion as he nodded. "Princess is going to be fine. I'd advise having food ready for all of them when they wake up though. I was able to contact them with the help of the Royal Scepter, and Laxus and Natsu are both complaining about how they're starving to death and trapped without anything to eat."

Makarov grinned at the Celestial Spirit longest attached to his Guild with his own Fairy Tail tattoo. "You've given me the best news I've had in a while, Loke. Thank you all for what you've done for us over the years."

The Maid Spirit spoke. "We must get these three back to the infirmary because the gates are getting strained now that we are not being empowered by the Fey magic. If we don't hurry, we might drop Princess and her friends because of vanishing."

"Of course." Makarov lifted his voice as he waved closer every able bodied man in the area, "Everyone, get over here. We need to relieve these Celestial Spirits of their burdens before they vanish. I'll get the door." Makarov responded as he headed for the back door of the Guild.

Feeling stunned and afraid over all Makarov had witnessed could wait until after Lucy, Laxus and Natsu were safe. Seeing that he was acting fearlessly should prompt the Run Knights and even Bickslow into action Makarov reasoned as he rushed to open the door. Bickslow took over for the Bull headed Spirit, and the beast man promptly vanished. A Rune Knight grabbed the other end of Laxus' cot, and the goat man disappeared. The only Spirits left once other Rune Knights took up the handles of the remaining stretchers were Loke and the strange copycat Spirit working in the knot of healers over one of the Ancients. Loke had not moved because of the Celestial Spirit King's Scepter. Once Rune Knights had Lucy in hand, the Lion Spirit retrieved the exquisite, glowing Scepter and jogged to the back door, following Makarov inside. They all trudged to the infirmary where the various men carefully deposited the sleeping trio.

Wendy and Porlyusica showed genuine relief and surprise as they checked all three over. Wendy began to bounce in place as she pointed out all the positive signs she noticed. The three had regained healthy skin color. None were suffering from breathing problems, or magical drain. All three had regained normal reflex motions expected of heavy sleepers, not coma patients. Both healers were sure that all three would awaken by early morning.

A couple minutes later, Vraylinish and another Fey carried the unconscious Shiv into the room. Makarov was quick to set the real Wendy and Porlyusica to work on saving the now disfigured woman's life. Makarov could see the various slashes, burns, two missing arms and one leg, plus deep puncture wounds Shiv had received while trying to save his children. "I know we were told that Shiv would have to pay a price for volunteering to help save my children, but I never expected anything so horrible as this."

Vraylinish heaved a heavy sigh. "Ashkaraka is a dangerous place. It demands literal blood and agony for everything that is done to change things in that realm. The more that must be done to safeguard this world, or the more pathways involved, the worse the damage gets. Agony is to be expected when making such a dive into a different dimension, Makarov. Shiv has done this once before, so we knew what to expect. At least the Fairies can take shifts to recreate her missing limbs over the next few weeks."

Makarov felt wetness slipping down his cheeks as he looked at the stranger who had endured so much to insure the salvation of three complete strangers. Without any warning, Bickslow stepped closer to the Sacred Saint and extended his hand. "Sorry about all my yelling this morning. I still don't agree with what happened to my friend, but taking this much damage for strangers takes a lot of guts. I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . your people really are trying to undo the mess your Fairies caused, but I honestly thought you were all lying. Looks like I was wrong, so I hope you can accept my apology."

Vraylinish lifted her hand and grabbed Bickslow's forearm in a firm grip, pulling him close enough to clap on the back. "Thank you for your truth. We can only undo some of the wrongs done, but I do hope it is enough to atone for our ignorance over time."

Evergreen pushed a handkerchief in front of Makarov's eyes as his vision wavered and the wetness increased. Taking the offered handkerchief, Makarov wiped his eyes and cheeks down. His vision did not remain clear for long, but Makarov found he could not care if he looked weak at the moment. The price of Ancient magic was deadly, and the old man grieved that one of Vraylinish' own had accepted such a terrible price to save lives, plus change the mind of angry Fairy Tail Mages.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: As always, thanks to everyone who has faved, followed or given me much appreciated reviews since my last update. I started reading the Fairy Tail Wiki to get more information about the manga I keep hearing about from the kids. I'm learning a lot about things outside of the anime I have had a chance to watch to date. Hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. Things in bold italic are not actual Laxus thoughts, and yet they sort of are at the same time. You'll understand before the chapter ends so I won't blow the surprise prematurely.

CHAPTER 18

The first thing Laxus heard as he became aware of a lumpy feeling surface, surrounded by pungent herbal scents, was slurping, chomping, and noisy gulping. None of the noises inclined Laxus to opening his eyes and actually watching the sloppy eating habits of Natsu Dragneel. The few times Laxus had witnessed Natsu eating in the guild hall effectively stunted his own hollowed out, vortex stomach's constant appetite until Laxus could shake the residual images from his mind. How anyone could make such a mess, or shove such massive bites into their mouths to swallow after barely chewing at all had been a mystery to Laxus until now.

Granted, Laxus understood Natsu's strangeness now that he had spent an undetermined amount of time trapped with Natsu and Lucy in a magically created link world that had formed for them to remain connected. The bizarre outdoor garden was now a permeant fixture in all their consciences now. If it had only been Lucy he was bound to, Laxus would be celebrating his great good fortune. He had suppressed his attraction because of Lucy always being with Natsu for a reason. Dragons fought to win and that meant killing each other which Laxus had refused to do because Natsu had found the young woman and brought her home. Now, Laxus was stuck with an unwelcome understanding, and mental connection with the younger male that only made everything harder to handle than before.

Laxus repressed the groan that tried to surface as he realized his mind was still noticing Natsu's thoughts, or more to the point, lack thereof. Outside of his determination to appease his empty stomach, Natsu was doing very little thinking beyond a mental monologue about flavors he scarce had time to notice as he continued to wolf down his meal. Natsu's earlier memories of sharing meals with a genuine dragon was to blame for the younger man's lack of human eating etiquette. Worst of all for Laxus, he had learned that sharing a dragon's kill meant eating the way Natsu did before said dragon finished everything off. Somewhere along the way, the need to eat fast had become another survival instinct that drove Natsu to continue resisting table manners. The only good thing about it in Laxus opinion was knowing that Natsu was not being a jackass on purpose.

With a flick of Laxus mind, he tried to determine what was happening with Lucy to submerge the instinctual, emotion driven images that dominated Natsu's thoughts. Laxus sensed the almost wounded feeling recoil from Lucy's mind which meant she was still refusung to leave their linked world. He could not blame Lucy for trying to hide in sleep a little longer since Laxus knew the appeal of hiding from the waking world mess they had to sort out together. Considering everything she had endured alone, Laxus wanted nothing more than to comfort and protect Lucy from any additional shocks. Having two other people's memories inundate and overload her own life was more of a shock than the majority of people could handle, including himself Laxus figured. Especially when one of the memory sets was as dark and grim as the majority of Laxus childhood memories.

Lucy's father had been cold and detached after her mother died, but Lucy had felt ashamed of thinking her childhood had been bad due to ongoing loneliness once she began to learn his own history without Laxus' consent. Laxus found that he disagreed with Lucy once he realized she had a habit of constantly belittling her own childhood pain. Neglect was a different nightmare to endure than the physical abuse and impossible demands Laxus knew intimately. Both men were power mad lunatics with different tactics for how they hurt their families. The fact that Lucy had relied on her most temperamental Celestial Spirit for companionship, and surrogate parenthood when she was small left Laxus wishing he could fix her ongoing, deep rooted fear of ongoing loneliness.

The sound of Natsu moving around caught Laxus attention. The thud of the other man's feet on the wooden planks made Laxus open his eyes. The pink haired man was hovering next to Lucy with his hand outstretched to touch her. "Leave her alone, Flame Brain. Blondie deserves a little more rest before she has to face both of us again. She kicked us out for a reason and you know it as well as I do."

Natsu looked over at him with a furrowed brow. "But Luce hates being alone for any time. She never says it, but I always know when she's hurting even if she smiles and laughs. I thought I could cheer her up a bit if we can gt her to come back too."

Sitting up, Laxus took a deep breath. "I just checked on her, and felt her recoil deeper when she sensed me. Give her some time to get over the shock a little more. After all the memories she saw, Blondie needs a chance to think things over, and sleep's probably the only place where she can get any peace from our thoughts. Blondie likes to sort things out for herself, so we need to respect her need to deal with her thoughts and emotions on her own terms."

Natsu nodded and sat on the edge of Lucy's cot, upper body twisted to continue speaking in a soft voice. "Guess I hadn't thought about that. I've been sort of hearing pieces of your thoughts since you woke up, but I wasn't paying much attention. I know you're worried about her just like me."

"You were too busy eating. Speaking of which, I'm starving too. Guess I should see if I can get Mira's attention so she'll make something for me to eat before too long. Although I don't know if I can safely leave here before Blondie wake up." Laxus answered to distract himself from the hard surge of jealousy over Natsu sitting on Lucy's cot.

_**He'll do nothing because he knows that his Alpha decides what will be allowed when it comes to these matters.**_

"Wendy said she'd be back up to grab my plates after she reported that I'm awake to Gramps. She said we weren't supposed to go anywhere but the bathroom until she's sure we're all okay too. Not sure that I get why leaving this room could be so bad." Natsu spoke up which knocked the strange, yet soft voice out of Laxus' mind for a moment.

Blinking twice while comprehending what the pink haired man had said, Laxus responded in a soft growling tone. "So we can expect Gramps to come barging in and waking up Blondie soon. Damn, I'll have to keep him quiet because she isn't ready to face anyone. Staying close to Blondie makes perfect sense when it could kill us since we don't yet know what the limitations of the soul binding spell will be for us all."

_**I can block everyone from coming into this room to bother us. Protecting her is now my first priority at all times. Without her, I have no mate, nor reason to exist. As the alpha, Natsu has to obey me because he's only a Warrior rank, and can't lead as he already knows. He obeys his alpha female for the most part, so making him bare his neck will be easy.**_

Laxus rubbed his temples as the same weird voice rumbled within his skull a second time. It was not Laxus own mental voice because it sounded very alien, and inhuman. Where was the damned voice coming from? It was nothing like Natsu's mental voice, nor Blondie's. Could it be one of her Spirits rambling that Laxus was now hearing because of the crazy spell that could not be broken? Rubbing his jaw, Laxus tried calming his fat growing irritation. The voice did not sound like himself and that meant someone other than Natsu was also interested in his favorite Celestial Mage. Perplexed by mentally hearing another competitor for Lucy's affections, Laxus missed hearing the door open and the sound of quick footsteps that stopped beside the infirmary bed he occupied.

"Thank goodness you're finally awake, Laxus. How are you feeling, my boy?" His grandfather's face was suddenly far too close for comfort, startling Laxus into leaning back.

"Damn it, Grandpa! Don't do that!" Laxus barked before he could control his louder vocal response to getting surprised.

"Shhhhhh." Wendy hissed, slapping her hands over both of their mouths much to Laxus amused surprise. "Lucy san still needs more sleep. Be quiet while you talk to each other so she won't be disturbed."

Laxus nodded and responded in a soft voice. "Yeah, Blondie isn't ready to handle anyone for a little while. She's had a pretty bad nightmare to handle for a lot longer than anyone suspected. The damage that was done to her soul isn't going to fix itself overnight either. We'll have to protect her until she's had time to recover. At the moment she flat refuses to talk to anyone, or wake up until she has a grip on her emotions. She promised that she'll come out of the linked world when she's done sorting out her emotions."

His grandfather gave him an odd look before speaking. "What are you talking about, son? How much do you know about what's going on with Lucy's emotions?"

Natsu vacated his seat beside the sleeping woman and walked closer. "We both can hear what's on Luce's mind now. We can feel her emotions too. I don't really get it, but Laxus is right. Luce doesn't want to wake up until she feels ready to handle everything. She even kicked us both out of the garden saying she needed some time alone."

Seeing his grandfather's eyes widen before shifting to a canny expression was annoying. Laxus did not doubt that Makarov Dryer was plotting something that was going to infuriate himself, possibly Natsu, and Blondie in the near future. Dealing with his Grandfather's shenanigans was not something Laxus felt he had time to handle and deflect before repairing everything else that was demanding his undivided attention.

"Don't give me that look, Gramps. None of us are in good enough shape to deal with your schemes or verbal jabs right now." Laxus growled.

The first thing Laxus had to deal with included calming down a very hurt and angry blond haired woman who was feeling battered and more than a little betrayed because of his and Natsu's various secrets. It was not as if Laxus blamed Lucy for being furious about why he had acted as he did since she joined Fairy Tail. Now that Lucy knew all the things Laxus had never intended for her to find out, he was had no choice but to face her, and clean up the fall out. It was hard to recall the last time Laxus had felt like he was a child caught with his fingers inside a half empty, and very forbidden cookie jar, gorging on a treat. Yet a glance at the woman sleeping on the next cot over reminded Laxus he would need to get used to that unpleasant emotionally charged sensation. Natsu was feeling a similar guilt to his own if only because their Celestial Mag had thrown a titanic fit when those specific memories and feelings were revealed in spite of both trying to hide them from her.

A harsh roil in his stomach caused a very loud growl to erupt from his midriff. The discomfort and noise snapped Laxus out of his thoughts. His grandfather was grinning at him. "Wendy, can you have Mira bring something up here for Laxus to eat?"

Wendy nodded and trotted out of the infirmary as Makarov patted Natsu's shoulder. "Now then. You were saying, Natsu?"

"Laxus is a lot better at explaining things than me, Gramps. Like I said, we both feel what Luce is feeling, same as I sort of know a lot of Laxus' emotions and thoughts. I heard Laxus thoughts first, or at least I did before I woke up. Not sure how that will work when we're all awake and not in that garden." Natsu spoke with a plea in his voice that was mirrored in the expression he shot in Laxus diretion.

Raking both hands through his hair, Laxus felt Natsu's nervousness, and worry slipping into his awareness. Knowing and sharing the other man's emotions was another unwelcome change Laxus was angry that he had to get used to. Because of the unknown consequences of a spell Laxus recklessly volunteered to be part of, out of a desperate need to help the woman he had already resigned himself to never getting, Laxus was trapped with the instinct overloaded Natsu's troubles.

"Give all of us time to figure everything out, Master. Right now we're all overwhelmed, and feeling really raw. Natsu isn't good with words or thinking in logical terms. Blondie and I have to help him find ways to fix that problem as we all get used to this extreme change. Don't do anything to unsettle the situation or make the situation worse than it already is for all three of us." Laxus stressed his grandfather's title to make the old man back off.

Makarov frowned at him, looking crestfallen. "I suppose explanations and questions can wait until you're all stronger, if you insist on being that way."

The things Laxus had learned from Loke's interference to remove a spell Aquarius had put on Lucy, for her protection, needed to be sorted through and dealt with immediately so that the least amount of upheaval was experienced. The side effects of soul bonding that the strange Ancient woman had explained to them needed to take precedence, especially now that Laxus understood she had done things to alter their freedom of choice because of a number of fears the Guild had expressed about him and Natsu killing each other. The woman had also warned them to expect a lot of instability in their linked world for a few weeks because of having to use some kind of pathway changing magic to save all their lives. Laxus was very angry about that conversation. Getting told that the linked world was separate from all of them, yet also a part of all of their souls' creation meant nothing would ever grant them true privacy now that they were aware of that side effect of the binding spell.

"We all agree that we're grateful that you're willing to give us time to get used to everything happening to us all right now, Grandpa. Until we work out who's thoughts and feelings belong to each of us independently, it will be harder to explain things. We all three have lots of questions, and even the answers we got from the Ancient who dropped into our linked world couldn't really explain everything well enough to satisfy me, or Blondie." Laxus told his grandfather as a way to deflect the old man's meddling for a little longer.

The way Natsu cocked his head to the side was all the reaction Laxus needed to know the younger man was picking up on his agitated thoughts. "She's in the cot at the far end of the infirmary. She's missing limbs, and Wendy said it was some kind of price she agreed to pay to save us while we were trapped in the linked world, Laxus."

"I don't recall her saying anything about any price to be paid. Will it affect us in the future?" Laxus asked as he stared his grandfather down.

"Shiv used a very dangerous and forbidden ancient spell to save all of your lives. She tampered with your ability to make certain choices so that your Dragon Instincts won't function quite the same as before. The guild's been in quite the uproar that you and Natsu would be forced to kill each other when you awoke, Grandson. At least it seems that her sacrificing three limbs to make the deal to change your life pathways worked." Makarov's features seemed to age dramatically before Laxus eyes.

"Natsu and I are willing to put Blondie's welfare before our pride. The spell made me aware of how many bad assumptions I've made about Natsu's motivations over the years, and he knows where I got my assumptions from also. He knows why I do the things I do which makes things weird, but a lot easier for him and for me when it comes to not stepping on each other's toes so to speak. Knowing the truth will help us both to deal with everything. I'll figure out how to help Natsu curb his instinct overloaded impulses if possible. Now that Natsu knows that I've always been attracted to Blondie, we both have to be careful about how we act around her. Everything could backfire and turn brutal with a single ill timed thought, word, or action unless we stay focused on keeping ourselves under control. We both understand that losing control of ourselves means a deadly eruption of Dragon Instinct violence. Neither one of us are willing to hurt Blondie so we're going to keep everything under control no matter how hard it may be to do it at first."

Wendy held open the door for Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow. Evergreen had several glasses, and a big pitcher full of juice on a serving platter. Freed was carrying a heavy tray of food. Wendy was shooting uneasy looks at Bickslow with her lips compressed as he followed the others into the room.

Seeing his grandfather's expression shift to annoyance warned Laxus to take charge before any of his team spoke. "Keep your voices down so you don't wake Blondie up. She's nowhere near as healthy a me and Natsu so needs hr rest."

Bickslow's obvious body language spoke volumes about his anger. The Seith mage was the first one to speak. "We're looking for a way to reverse this messy spell that got used on you, Laxus. Hopefully, you won't have to be stuck with them for very long before Freed finds the right counter spell to get you free."

Freed was pale and nervous as he looked toward the infirmary's back wall where three beings were hunkered around the other bed, magic flowing around them. Laxus found the genuine fear that flashed across Freed's face alarming. "What is it, Freed?"

Natsu shifted to sit on the foot of Lucy's cot while Makarov hopped off to grab one of the chairs in the room to pull over beside the cot. A small shiver made the dishes on Freed's platter rattle before the man could place it in Laxus hands. "I never knew such powerful monsters existed outside of the demons from Zeref's books, Laxus sama. To think monsters like them are afraid of Lucy's power after the Astral Chains get removed is very unnerving."

The new voice prattling away in the back of his mind, seeking attention Laxus did not want to give, tensed and slithered itself into Laxus awareness like a coiled snake ready to strike. _**Nobody is allowed to harm Blondie. They are going to obey the rules, or be destroyed for trying to come between us. She's mine now and I won't tolerate them disrespecting my mate.**_

Where the alien sounding voice came from was unknown to Laxus. All Laxus knew was that the voice had begun speaking after the Fairy spell was cast on them to keep Blondie alive. The voice could be some kind of side effect of the Soul Binding spell that Laxus had not known to expect. Now that Laxus was hearing it respond to the current conversation, he could not rule out an outside being's voice either. The implication was that one of the original spell casters was talking in Laxus mind, purposefully trying to pretend to be him.

By reflex Laxus found he had taken a glass of juice that Evergreen had handed him. "We've known Blondie isn't a weakling for a while, Freed. She beat Bickslow when I was being an asshole because I lost sight of what matters most. If they're afraid of her, they're smarter than I gave them credit for at this point. Once Blondie wakes up, they're going to discover just how pissed off a strong Celestial Spirit Mage can get to be certain. I'm not looking forward to her unleashing her fury once she gets her hands on the people who put the spell on all of us without telling us anything about it being permanent. Blondie knows a few very dangerous spells that she's never liked to use because of the possibility of killing the targets. I hope her conscience gets in the way if they say the wrong thing because she's very angry about how she thinks they tricked us into saving her."

Natsu startled Laxus when he spoke. "I think Luce'll use her kicks and whip to make them pay, Laxus. Urano Metria and the other magic attacks she knows aren't spells that Lucy likes to use unless she's out of less destructive options to deal with her enemies."

Laxus watched his grandfather tug on his mustache for a moment before he spoke. "Gajeel and Natsu's dragons both wish to talk to you as soon as your able to move around, Laxus. It seems the Lacrima your father implanted in you is a fossilized piece of a Dragon King's mind. They said it's unsealed now and will probably start interfering with your normal thought processes in the near future. They offered to teach you how to access the knowledge in it to prevent a war between you and Natsu because of the soul binding."

Before he could speak, Natsu was interrupting with an overload of emotional chaos flying into Laxus conscience that was so strong it almost overwhelmed Laxus own ability to think. "My dad's here? Where's he staying? I can't wait to see him!"

Without a second spared to think over his actions, Laxus grabbed Natsu's forearm and yanked him down onto the cot he was sitting on. The untouched food rattled and threatened to be toppled off the bed, but Laxus was more concerned about Natsu flying out of the room. Neither one of them knew how Blondie would be affected by their actions while she was still in the pocket of their soul linked micro world. Laxus was not about to let the younger man endanger Lucy if he could stop it until they knew more about how dangerous or safe the Linked world was. They had no idea what the full consequences were as of yet. So long as Lucy refused to awaken, Laxus would find a way to keep Natsu from acting on his overwhelming instinctual impulses. He did not bother trying to constrain his concern for the woman as he yanked Natsu down onto the edge of his cot. Knowing full well Natsu would pick up on his concern, Laxus was fairly sure he was safe enough to act with equal impulsiveness.

"Slow down, Flamethrower! Until we know that Blondie's going to be safe, neither of us leaves this room! Or do you want to risk her getting hurt or possibly die? What little we know about the Soul Binding Spell is far too little for comfort. For all we know any of us can make a reckless move that could kill all of us in a horrible way so long as she's there. We don't even know if we have to stay within visual site of each other at all times right now."

Natsu's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he felt how serious Laxus was being as he reprimanded the reckless member of their uneasy group. It was the one benefit of being trapped with the younger man's thoughts and feelings by the spell. Not knowing the limits that the spell imposed made Laxus wary of any wrong moves before they knew a lot more about everything imposed on all of them.

"Sorry, I forgot about not knowing the limits yet. I won't go anywhere."

With a heavy sigh, Laxus released Natsu's forearm. The smaller man moved back to Lucy's cot and sat down. Once reassured that Natsu was not going to lose control of his instincts and emotions a second time, Laxus began eating the large meal in front of him. Starting on the loaded omelet containing thin chopped ham, crumbled bacon, and shredded vegetables with melted cheese, Laxus let his attention be consumed with his idea of flavorful heaven. His eyes enjoyed the vision of thick links of sausage peeking out between layers of fluffy biscuits off to the side. A large serving of hash browns on a separate plate rounded out the meal. The new structures forming in his mind tried to prod him to eat faster, but Laxus quelled the Natsu like habit as fast as it tried to surface. Hungry as he was, Laxus was determined to savor every bite.

"Limiters? What the fuck did those bastards do to Laxus sama, Freed?" Bickslow snarled at his teammate.

Laxus swallowed his food and spoke before pandemonium could erupt. "Wendy warned us to stick close together until Blondie wakes up so we can all find out what this spell really does limit or change about ourselves. We need to talk to someone who knows what we should expect beyond hearing each others thoughts, and experiencing each other's feelings, Bickslow. It's a common sense safety measure. After Blondie is ready to come out of the linked world and join us, we'll get everything sorted out. We don't know how the linked world gets affected if we move around too much while one of us is in there. Blondie's in no shape to be the one experimenting with proximity factors that might be involved."

"How can you be so calm about getting screwed over the way you have been, Laxus? I know you think Cosplayer's hot, but this shit's not right." Bickslow yelled.

_**I'm going to rip the damned fool's throat out for yelling loud enough to wake my woman when she needs rest! He's not getting away with ignoring the rules I already set out for him to obey!**_

Faster than Laxus could move, Natsu was already upon Bickslow. A flame covered fist slammed into the side hinged joint of Bickslow's visor, shattering it and connecting with Bickslow's face. It took several seconds for Laxus to realize Natsu had used his signature punishment maneuver against the Seith Mage. Bickslow dangled by his shirt front from the shorter man's upheld fist, weakly hanging onto Natsu's wrist as he tried to shake off the strike's obvious effects.

A quick glance passed between them and Laxus spoke. "You read my mind almost as well as fast as I can think." Turning a glare on his team mate, Laxus continued, "If you can't keep your voice down and let Blondie rest, then leave, Bickslow. I won't warn you again. She didn't do a damned thing to deserve your anger aside from kicking your ass both times she faced you. I really thought you were over that, but I guess I was wrong."

Seeing the man's body language shift to a defeated slouch, Laxus felt his own tension drain. Natsu let Bickslow go a moment after Laxus felt his own muscles relax. After seconds of heavy breathing, Bickslow spoke in a much softer tone. "It isn't like that, Laxus. Those bastards didn't give you any real choice but to be stuck with Cosplayer and Flametard for the rest of your life. It isn't fair that your choice to settle down with someone you love has gotten taken away by those fucking bastards."

"Not one more word, Bickslow. You've completely misunderstood everything that's going on, and if you can't get it then you need to shut your mouth before I get fed up and shut you up for good." Laxus growled as his patience drained away.

Wiping away more of the blood that continued streaming down his angular face while yanking off the remains of his visor, Bickslow nodded and looked toward the infirmary door as if contemplating his choices.

"Laxus sama, what did you mean by Natsu's reading your mind as fast as you think something?" Evergreen asked, worry plastered across her features.

"He means exactly that. Laxus knows everything I think and feel too. We both can hear Luce, but not as well because she's in our new link world ignoring both of us. She's really upset so we let her kick us out for a little while so she has some space to calm down."

"Link world? What is that?" Freed asked.

Swallowing down more of his breakfast and taking a drink to wash the food down, Laxus took over before Natsu made things more confusing by trying to explain things he did not actually comprehend. "Linked world is something that exists outside of the three of us, but at the same time it doesn't exist, at least not in a normal sense of existing. You could say it's a magical construct bordering on being a different realm, or a temporary formed layer of this one that remains separate at the same time. Somehow Soul Binding magic creates something like a pocket dimension, but it only exists whenever we want to use it."

"So does this pocket dimension that's been created drain all of your magic at the same time? I mean, it could be dangerous to use if it drains too much magic from any of you if Lucy san is as ill as we've been told." Freed spoke in a placating tone.

"Better not be draining Laxus just so the little Cheerleader can sulk." Bickslow muttered almost soft enough for Laxus to not hear him, but not quite.

"Bickslow, you're really pissing me and Laxus off because of the shit your saying about Luce. I did you a favor by hitting you instead of letting Laxus nail you earlier. The things Laxus almost dumped his breakfast to do to you was a lot worse than I'm willing to do to you at the moment. Watching Laxus rip your throat out isn't something I want to see happen." Natsu snapped as he stomped up to Bickslow.

"Laxus wouldn't do that to Bickslow." Freed protested in a weak voice.

"Actually, I'm really tempted to do exactly that because Bickslow's big mouth might be driving Blondie deeper into the linked world to avoid hearing what's being said about her. She's so emotionally shredded that she doesn't want to wake up and see anyone. Natsu and I agree that we won't let anyone hurt her any worse than she's already hurting. Lucy Heartfilia is suffering in ways none of us ever knew because she's always so busy making sure all of us are smiling and happy. Seeing the truth with my own eyes is plenty reason for me to make certain Bickslow doesn't add to her private hell. If he can't get over this fucked up tantrum he's having, I'll end it before he does something Blondie will regret." Laxus snarled in soft, lethal tone that had everyone except Natsu stepping back with pasty complexions.

Bickslow flinched as Natsu remained in close proximity to him. "Those Fairies said that you would lose your individual selves to become some kind of extensions of each other. Guess the fact Natsu just used your favorite punishment trick means it's true. You aren't really Laxus anymore, are you?"

"Wrong, Bickslow. Let Natsu's mind go, Laxus. If he wasn't strong enough to curb your fury, Bickslow would be dead. He isn't a tool for you to push into doing your bidding, Laxus, and I won't tolerate you using him like one!" Lucy's voice snapped Laxus head around to see her glaring at him although she was still laying down.

"Welcome back, Luce. You feeling okay?" Natsu was quick to drop onto the side of her cot, all traces of anger forgotten.

Seeing that she was awake, Laxus whipped his head back to target the angry Seith Mage. Even without his babies hovering around him, Bickslow still had Figure Eyes magic at his disposal, and Laxus was not feeling very trusting of the man's motives. His sharp focus did not go unnoticed. Laxus felt Lucy's willpower pushing against his fury in an all out attempt to shut it down. "Don't even think it. I know you're mad about what he's been saying, but Bickslow is only being a jerk because he cares about you. I understand that, and so should you, Laxus. Natsu is easy to get riled enough for you to control him, but I'm not."

"He's way out of line, Blondie. Worst of all, he forced you to wake up when you weren't ready."

"Actually, your blood lust is what forced me to get up, Twinkle Toes! Natsu lives on instincts instead of thinking, so that makes him susceptible to your overwhelming personality so long as you have a similar emotion at the same time. He's mad at Bickslow too, but Natsu knows that a friend should be angry when they think their dearest friend has been hurt or abused. It was his strong love for all his friends that he considers family, combined with me getting forced to wake up that allowed him to use a different attack than you wanted to use on your own friend." The woman's irate and very loud voice had Laxus wincing.

"Quit screeching, Blondie. Shit, your voice is almost a freaking lethal weapon. You know that?" Laxus grumbled while rubbing his thumb against the center of his ear to ease the pain her sharp toned rebuke had caused.

"I'll calm down after you do, Twinkle Toes! And another thing, we are finding out who that is talking in your head because it's giving you very bad ideas! I'm not property to fight over or defend. I'm a human being the same as you. Whoever it is talking about being an alpha versus a lower status person is causing problems. If I catch the jerk telling you to make Natsu obey you, I'm going to rip them apart with my bare hands and whip."

Evergreen's snickering caught everyone's attention. "Twinkle Toes? Really, Lucy?"

"As long as Laxus calls me Blondie, he's going to live with an equally stupid nickname. I've already warned him to get used to it. When he uses my name, I use his name. If he calls me Blondie, he gets called Twinkle Toes."

"Waiot, Lucy. Did the voice use the word Alpha, or Warrior specifically when you heard it?"

Laxus turned to face his grandfather because he was surprised. The inhuman hissing voice had indeed used both terms. "How did you know what terms it used?"

"It's the dragon Lacrima interfering. This is why you need to talk to Igneel and Metalicana, Laxus. They have to teach you how to deal with the lacrima because it is resonating with your personality now that it's unsealed. After everything was cleaned up from the spell that was done yesterday to get you back, the dragons told me the lacrima doesn't have the ability to distinguish that you aren't the dragon it was part of all those years ago. It functions the same as any other thought process you normally have, but won't sound the same for a while. So in a way, Lucy's correct that it can cause serious problems unless you master the full Lacrima potentials that have been activated."

"So is Laxus going to change because of this unsealing that has happened, Master?" Lucy asked in an exhausted sounding voice.

"It should be easy enough for Laxus to control. The unsealing means that Laxus will actually be able to tap into actual dragon memories at will." Makarov answered as he patted Lucy's blanket covered leg.

Freed waved a hand to get everyone's attention. "We were told all of you would lose your individual personalities if you were asleep too long so I think it is obvious that Laxus would be able to control Natsu to some extent since you were all asleep for close to a week."

Laxus sighed and went back to eating. He was not going to answer his nosy teammate's question. Far as Laxus was concerned this situation was none of their business. Sensing that Lucy was getting ready to explain Laxus put real weight behind his thoughts as he directed them at her. _'They don't need to know anything, Bl . . . Lucy. Leave it alone.'They're just going to be annoying and it isn't any of their business what's going on with us at this time. After we have things sorted out, we can decide what to tell everyone in the guild.'_

'_Laxus Dreyer, stop being a jerk. They care or they wouldn't be in here trying to make sure you're okay. All of them love you as their family. Just eat so your stomach stops interfering with your ability to control your temper. We need to do something about that damned voice so talking to the dragons outside just became our priority. Once your not hungry, you should be able to guard against it until Wendy lets us get out of bed!'_

After she yelled at him with her mind, Lucy began talking. "Natsu has a very hard time controlling his dragon side for a lack of a better name for his instinct and magic. He has to focus a lot of his thinking on keeping his instincts and magic under control so he doesn't really have a lot of room for thinking about unnecessary things. Laxus on the other hand felt his and Natsu's combined anger and suddenly the weird, inhuman voice that's getting stronger jumped on the idea of ripping Bickslow's throat out so I had to help Natsu downgrade the attack because Laxus is so angry he can barely control himself right now. He's also starving so this little get together should have waited until after things have settled down enough for us to have recovered from the shock. I can't believe I'm caught between two Dragon Slayers like this, but I'll figure out how to deal with things better in the future. I've never experienced this kind of hunger driven rage before." Lucy was explaining while Laxus ate the rest of his omelet and started on the sausage and biscuit sandwiches.

His grandfather's voice caught Laxus attention. "Hunger driven rage isn't the problem, Dear Child. I've long suspected that Laxus likes you a lot more than he's been willing to show over the years."

Noticing Lucy's thoughts about how his food was smelling delicious, Laxus dumped a sausage sandwich and most of the hash browns on a freshly cleared plate and handed it to her. "Eat something, Blo . . . Lucy."

Lucy sat up and took the offered plate with a sense of gratitude flowing across the new connection they shared. After nibbling on the buttermilk biscuit and drinking most of the juice in the glass that Evergreen handed her, Lucy began speaking. "I mean exactly that, Master. The voice started whispering and annoying me and Laxus both right before I kicked them out of the linked world because I was getting overwhelmed by both of their hunger driven irritation. That lady Shiv called the place Linked world and told us a little about what it was, so at least we know more than we did about the soul binding magic. Before they showed up, Laxus had me convinced they were somehow inside my mind because they honestly thought that was where they were. Loke broke the spell Aquarius used on me before Mustache Man gave me powers that were a lot like Aquarius magic so I could continue to fight to protect my guild family."

Laxus felt a stab of emotional agony lance through his chest. He knew it was from the Celestial Mage's conscience. Mentioning the Spirit's name, the same one she had sacrificed to save them all, was still a raw and bleeding hole within the woman's soul. "Don't start thinking about it, Blondie. Losing your second mom because you felt you had to choose us isn't helping you handle what's happening now. You obeyed her command to break her key because she was the only one you had to rely upon, and feel connected to your dead mother. She was the one who listened to you and tucked you into bed at night from a young age. You love her like your own mother, so you did as she told you to do, and that isn't the same thing as betrayal. Aquarius was the closest thing you had to a caring parent for most of your life. After your mom died, your ability to summon Aquarius was your only break from being ignored, or yelled at until you ran away from home. She made you obey her to save your life the same as any real mother would have done, Blondie. I know what she did to try and save you, and I'll never see any spirit the same way I did before."

The horrified gasps that followed Laxus' lecture reminded him that they weren't alone. Turning his head back to stare at his teammates, Laxus dared them to say anything with his gaze.. Bickslow's expression was the most stunned of the group. "Wait. Cosplayer sacrificed a spirit that she thought of as her mom?"

Laxus glared at Bickslow and spoke in a steely tone. "You damn right she did. Why else would I be so fucking furious with you for talking shit about her, Bicks? One of the Tartarus demons forced her to choose between her guild family, including us while we were out of commission, and the spirit who's acted as her only real family for most of her life. She chose all of us even though obeying Aquarius has almost destroyed her. Blondie's been faking smiles plus anything else all she can think of to make sure we're all happy and recovering from that brutal fight. These last few months, she's been living through her own private hell the whole time she's cheered up all of our Guild members. She whines about rent and stupid shit to keep the rest of us from noticing that personal pain and self hate's been eating her alive!"

Bickslow slid down onto his knees upon the floorboards, eyes flickering toward the silent woman nibbling on the sausage biscuit, refusing to look at any of them. Natsu shook his head when Lucy sat up straighter, about to set aside her breakfast. Laxus knew she was upset that he was talking about something so painful, but he had to make his team understand the situation, as well as his grandfather.

"If I ever hear anyone call Lucy Heartfilia weak because she asks her Celestial Spirits to be her fighting partners, and treats them like her literal family, I'm going to say screw the Guild's no killing rules and fry the bastards into charcoal. Nobody should have to make the kind of sacrifice she made for all of us. Lucy's the strongest person in this damned guild as far as I'm concerned. I made the right choice when I told those strangers to let me help save her life. I don't regret anything other than making things harder on her when she came here because all I could see was a pretty girl that I was lumping in the same category as the ones I dealt with over the years who wanted a meaningless thrill because of my being a powerful mage. Lucy isn't like that at all, and I was wrong to ever think she's shallow like they were."

Freed shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. "We understand, Laxus Sama. None of us knew that Lucy san was in pain, or that she had done something like that. I mean, we understand that Bickslow is very fond of his lost souls, so I suppose we thought of Lucy's spirits as being roughly the same."

"They aren't, Freed. Lucy loves her spirits as if they are literal family members no matter how they look on the outside. She knows they love her a lot so she lets them do things for her that she can do for herself because it makes them happier. Lucy knows how much her spirits appreciate her kindness, and how driven they feel to repay her any way she'll let them. Even that damned idiot Loke genuinely loves her in a way he's never loved any other female he was using while he was here." Laxus grumbled.

"Thank you, Laxus. I didn't think anyone could ever really understand why I love Celestial Spirits so much, or why I treat them like I do." Lucy spoke on a broken sob. Natsu dropped down beside her and she leaned against his chest without warning to cry even harder.

The sorrow in Natsu's eyes as he looked over at him told Laxus that he also felt the pain Lucy needed to release. Helping her to get through her losses was going to be hard, but Laxus was determined to make things right after all the stupid mistakes he had made where the blond haired woman was concerned. Whatever it took to make Lucy happy was what he was willing to give so that she would have her own long overdue happiness. Natsu gave him a not quite cheeky grin and a nod as if he was in complete agreement with Laxus thoughts.

~~oo0oo~~


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews and private messages given to me. I appreciate each and every kind comment I have received from everyone. Thanks also going out to everyone who has faved, or followed this story since my last update. I am quite surprised by the number of people who have added me as a favorite author. Thanks so much for the unexpected honor. Hope that this story continues to please as my plot bunnies scamper about, playing with words that get typed through my finger tips. Warning everyone up front. Lucy is supposed to be losing her mind in this chapter, so I hope I conveyed her freak out well enough. Please let me know if I succeeded in keeping her mind abuzz with craziness. I added in some perversity to this chapter because I tend to see the possibilities with such an angry guy as Laxus was in the past to pull such egotistical stunts as Lucy is somewhat evasively contemplating. Angsty chapter overall.

I do not own Fairy Tail Characters or Universe. I only own the freaks I throw into the cannon characters' faces to force them into conflict and change while promoting supreme chaos along the way.

CHAPTER 19

'_Un-freaking-believable! I can't believe Laxus and Natsu! What is wrong with all the men around me? All this time I've been in the dark about both of their feelings toward me. Am I just super gullible, or am I somehow unworthy of hearing the truth? Am I to blame for not recognizing what was happening, or did they hide it so well that nobody could ever hope to see it?' _

Lucy's mind was overflowing with seething emotions that defied cataloging while she remained inside the linked world. Still able to feel ghostly tendrils of the two men's emotions and thoughts despite having kicked them both out so she could think, Lucy tried to make sense of everything happening to her. In the wake of shocking revelations, regardless of both men trying to hide so many things from her, Lucy could not help but alternate between rage and almost blind panic.

'_Why didn't Natsu trust me enough to tell me about the side effects of his Dragon Slayer Magic? How could he do something like this? I know he's scared of his dragon side, and the possibility of messing up our friendship, but this has gone way beyond messing things up! If only I had known, maybe I could have helped him find a way other than using me as some kind of emotional sedative! Now I know why he clings to me but always insists we're only best friends. I only hide things so I won't become a burden, but this is totally different from my secret fears about not being a strong enough Mage to deserve my place on our team. After all, Natsu, Erza, and Gray are always having to rescue me so I have a reason to be worried. And then there's Laxus to deal with which makes no sense what so ever! If that pig headed arrogant man thinks he's going to change me, then he has another think coming! Prude am I? Oooohhhhhh he's an insufferable piece of perverted work if ever I've ever met one!' _

'_My secrets don't affect everyone around me the same way as Natsu's constant war with his own magic and instincts might if he ever loses control. Nor do my secrets involve friendly little dirty deals like Laxus has with his teammates. At least I give my all when we're on a mission, even if it doesn't always work the way I hope. I'm sick of getting rescued all the time, but I can't seem to stop that from happening so I have to swallow my pride, unlike those two! Natsu's secret could even hurt people on accident. Don't even want to think about what might have happened if I had ever gotten too friendly with some other man without knowing the consequences! Drat his annoying, adorably stupid hide for hiding something like this for so long! I can't believe those two idiots!' And what am I supposed to do about things I really didn't need to know about both of them, especially about Laxus?'_

Overloaded mentally, and emotionally, Lucy recoiled when she felt the brush of one of their thoughts trying to make contact. Lucy had a feeling it was Laxus trying to check on her. The care and worry were obvious, but Lucy wanted space to sort her emotions out by thinking things over that she had learned because of getting into such deadly trouble yet again. One of the things she most needed to sort out was how she felt about everything involving Laxus lifestyle that she had discovered. Making peace with her new found understanding of Natsu was going to take time also because he had hurt Lucy far worse by not trusting her.

'_Everything is probably my fault because I'm not strong enough to protect myself much less anyone else. I didn't even know about Laxus, but the way Laxus was dealing with his feelings is hard for me to handle. How am I supposed to feel about the reasons behind Natsu's clinging to me? I'm not even sure if Natsu can qualify as able to love since I'm just some security blanket in the end. Am I ever going to get those memories of all those dirty things Laxus has done with strangers out of my head? Not sure I'll ever be able to look at Laxus' team the same way ever again now that I know the real reason for their gluing their selves to Laxus like they did. At least Natsu isn't the type to think of using sex as an escape. Then again, Natsu is afraid of losing control and hurting someone which explains why he flat refuses to grow up! So long as he keeps himself locked down and refuses to grow up, Natsu believes he won't lose control of his dragon side. _

One side of Lucy was thankful that Laxus honestly did care enough to check on her, and yet it also made her feel claustrophobic and stifled. Considering some of her thoughts, it was outright embarrassing to know Laxus or Natsu could slip back into the garden and know exactly what images were intruding upon her attempted thoughts. Hearing, feeling, and knowing two very overwhelming men's emotions and thoughts constantly was not going to be an easy adjustment for Lucy to make if she really was bound to the pair for life.

'_Laxus at least has an understandable excuse for keeping secrets since he rarely spoke to me. I can't give Natsu the same slack because he didn't bother to tell me a damned thing about their unspoken Dragon Slayer rules, or his problems! How was I supposed to know about Slayers having an animalistic possessiveness and ownership mentality when nobody every said anything to me? Nothing like that was even mentioned in the books I've read outside of the mate's section. How was I supposed to know that it goes beyond the mate situation in some cases? How can Natsu expect me to feel flattered about his beast calming down around me? Natsu's always broken into my place and eaten everything in my place because he really is a selfish jerk. To find out just how many other ways Natsu was turning me into his security blanket really hurts. At least he isn't a genuine pervert when he charges into my bathroom when I'm getting cleaned up. Although, I really wish Natsu could deal with being alone for more than fifteen minutes. Not sure that Laxus is going to be any better. Laxus started out only interested in my body. The fact Laxus thinks I'm wasting my body because of waiting to fall in love before sleeping with someone just makes me want to beat him to a pulp. Considering his libido, I'm not sure I can handle facing Laxus without hitting him when I leave here.' _

'_Why am I the one that's supposed to accept being owned by either one of them? Wonder what Aquarius would say if she knew I've had a man who liked me all this time? Probably yell at me for being too dense to pick up on the boyfriend opportunity that was under my nose. God, I miss her. How could I have hurt Aquarius that way? Wish I could ask her how to deal with Laxus. Considering everything I'm learning right now, I'm not sure I ever want to deal with Laxus or his expectations. Then again, I don't think I can handle it if Laxus and Natsu fight over me because of their dragon instincts and magic going haywire the way Loke said could happen. Neither one of them are anything like I thought of them all this time, and I don't know how to fix this stupid problem.' _

Her tattered thoughts jumbled into a knot that had Lucy reeling like a ping pong ball getting batted around by the two men in question. After images and their memories continued flashing across the Linked World's landscape even though both had left as she had demanded. It was their memories interference that kept her mind switching directions. Lucy could not un-see or un-hear all the things she had learned, and some of the images, especially from Laxus, were beyond very embarrassing. Figuring out how to separate her own thoughts from strong opinions, conclusions, and experiences in Laxus case, or intense emotions swamping her mind from Natsu, was going to take lots of practice.

'_Where does this soul bond lead to as far as Laxus is concerned? No way am I going to agree to involve myself with the Thunder Tribe's perverted agreement. Can't believe I never had any idea that people exist who have no preferences about gender! Explains plenty about Freed's attitude toward Laxus though. Wouldn't be surprised if Freed is in love with Laxus. Bickslow is ten times the pervert I thought he was before. If I had brain bleach I would so use it to get rid of those memories first! Then there's Evergreen. She's not going to like it if she thinks there is any risk of losing Laxus' attention I'm pretty sure. Oh God, they're going to murder me over this mess that I had no say in causing! Even if Laxus thinks they're just friends with benefits, he could be wrong considering how long they've had this deal of theirs.' _

One thing Lucy knew was that she had to make peace with herself and everything she felt before she could face Natsu or Laxus in the waking world. Being viewed as property or some kind of trophy made Lucy feel even worse about herself. Inside their linked world garden, Lucy cut loose with a loud howl of frustration as she sought to bring her emotions and thoughts under control. Having so many people to face and explain herself to once her eyes opened on the outside was an unpleasant prospect for Lucy. She was tainted with so many of Laxus and Natsu's memories as each one surfaced to batter her shredded pride, and far more innocent world view. Laxus was not ashamed of his personality. Her own ignorance about sex only made things more awkward for Lucy. Nothing like bisexuality, or kinks had ever crossed Lucy's mind. Being a hopeless romantic felt downright childish when confronted with Laxus memories. Forcing the images away, Lucy fought her mind back onto safer mental ground.

'_Natsu says I'm his best friend, but he doesn't even trust me enough to tell me something important enough to affect my life! How dare he hide everything because he doesn't trust himself. I know that Natsu figured he could ignore something this dangerous! Even Laxus acknowledges his weird sex life has to be handled with discretion. With Laxus being aware of Natsu's motives all along, I have to find a way to keep the damned pervert from doing something we'll all regret later. Why me? Laxus actually thinks I'm supposed to be okay with everything happening because we're trapped together without any chance of getting free from each other. I can't believe he's happy about this crazy situation! Then again, Laxus is used to one night stands, and having kinky friends who jump at a snap of his fingers. So how am I supposed to deal with him and his dirty little deals? I'm not that kind of girl and that's final! Stupid jerks are going to drive me crazy!' _

Disturbed by the direction of her thoughts, Lucy got up and walked around the garden seeking answers that were not forthcoming. Although Lucy felt worn out and wished desperately that she could sleep, her mind would not slow down enough to allow her any respite. Dragging the five chains that still remained was not helping her fearful, desperation laced mood.

'_What am I supposed to do about Natsu and Laxus to keep them from fighting over me if their truce breaks once I finish healing? Both of them are reckless in their own ways and that really worries me. I know they're only behaving because they know I can't handle the physical pain I'd feel if they fought, but how long is that going to last? And what did that strange woman mean about removing some of these chains? Why only some of them if they can be removed? What the hell are these damned chains anyway?' _

Venting a long growl, Lucy glared at the offending chains that fell in the intricately molded bird fountain which continued to spout raw energy like water into the large basin. Lucy had no idea why she was the only one who could touch the painfully cold chains. They hurt, but someone else knew how to take care of them if Lucy understood the strange woman who Loke had said was okay to trust. Because of the chains existence, Lucy was now permanently glued to Natsu and Laxus if she understood everything that was explained when Loke had visited. The fact that the strange woman said not all the chains would be removed really bothered Lucy as she noticed that scenes continued flashing within the dome when she turned her head to walk back the way she had come.

'_Wish I had realized Laxus was serious when he demanded I become his girlfriend all those times. I blew Laxus off because I didn't believe in him since Mira and everyone said he was just being an arrogant ass to intimidate me. It seems Laxus wasn't completely hiding everything he felt, even if he was being rude about liking me every chance he got. Guess it sort of makes sense with his childhood being so bad that Laxus tried to keep himself from getting hurt. I know he had a rough time with being so, . . . um, kinky and wide open about trying new things that way now. But still, I can't believe his attitude about my wanting to love the person before doing something like that ever. Natsu has been doing something similar to keep himself safe, except with a lot less thinking, and more childish selfishness involved.' _

'_I can't be angry at Laxus for believing Natsu had plans to put some kind of literal claim on me because of how Natsu' acts around me. I even got ideas a couple of times because of how Natsu's always being so touchy and practically squashes me into the table sometimes in the guild. Why didn't I question Laxus after Phantom Lord attacked our guild? How could I have misread everything Natsu has done for so long? I should have questioned Natsu a lot more because it's pretty obvious that he's possessive of me. No wonder Mira is always teasing me about dating Natsu. I'm such a fool for convincing myself that Laxus was just bullying me because I'm weak. If only I had known a fraction of this before, I would have done everything differently. None of us would be in this mess! Laxus was being an obnoxious fiend out of habit. I convinced myself that he was making fun of me because he never made his intentions clear, or I simply decided to be blind to the reality in front of me. All this time Laxus was dealing with an attraction to me that he wanted to accept but couldn't because of thinking Natsu had already made up his mind. For two years I've misunderstood everything about both of them. Why am I even thinking about what if's involving Laxus here?'_

Lucy sighed as she brushed a hand down her face with her fingers splayed. Her other hand gripped the top of her thigh as her knees wobbled. Swallowing hard, Lucy felt the wave of weakness ease and began pacing again. Keeping her head down to avoid the images still flowing all around her within the linked world's confines, Lucy reached for any peace available which continually eluded her grasp.

'_All of Laxus' hints went right over my head, and I never confronted him about any of this because I kept blowing it off as a really bad joke he enjoyed playing on me. Natsu was hitting me over the head with his problems by breaking into my home and climbing into bed with me after he knew I was asleep. Still, I believed him when Natsu said he loved my comfortable bed too much to resist sleeping on it every chance he got. Although, neither one of them has ever done anything to change my mind about their feelings, I can't believe how much of an idiot I've been. How could I be so blind, and let things turn out this way? All this time wasted because neither one of them had the guts to face me and tell me the truth! Of course, Natsu would have been forced to admit that he's far more selfish than I ever dreamed, but at least he cares about my safety and will do whatever he can to make sure I'm happy. Just wish it was a bit different way that he cares about keeping me happy though. Then there's Laxus. Not sure how to react to him when I leave this place. Can't say that I hate him because I don't. At the same time, his lack of loving the people he's slept with is really unnerving me. I can't even understand how he could be so willing to do so many things just because it sounded entertaining. And I'm stuck with both of them now?!' _

Lucy gulped in several deep breaths in a row. Dropping onto the fountain's plaster basin wall, Lucy closed her eyes and tried to reach within herself for a more meditative mind set. If she could empty her mind, Lucy knew her emotions would calm. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, Lucy opened her eyes and stared into the bubbling fountain until the image was burned into her mind deep enough to block the many images that tried to catch her attention from the corners of her eyes.

'_Calm down and think. It's not like I'm perfect. But with both of them, I can totally see my feelings getting hurt a lot more in the future. Laxus really is an arrogant beast, but only because it keeps people from getting too close. Natsu on the other hand has lived up to my expectations of being a happy go lucky, immature idiot. Although I guess in his case, having to fight to stay in control of himself doesn't help Natsu to grow up any. I've always thought I was a burden so I tried so hard to keep my fears to myself. Everything about this situation is beyond ridiculous because their knowing my insecurity problem scares me worse than being too weak to save myself or anyone. I don't even know if what I'm thinking is really my own thoughts because everything is such a muddle. I can't put anything I'm thinking into a single problem solving line of thoughts because I'm freaking out over everything.'_

'_I was trying to not be a burden whenever possible, but this is a whole new level of failure to be strong enough to deserve being part of Fairy Tail. Why do I keep making such bad mistakes, and hurting the people I consider my new family? I don't even know how to face either one of them because I feel like I have to choose one of them. Hurting anyone that I have come to think of as my new family is something I don't want to risk doing even by accident. All this time I've been a blind fool, but I have to change myself to be strong enough to deserve my place in the guild. The only thing left is for me to pick up the pieces and get over my shock because running isn't an option. But how am I supposed to do that with the way I feel? Nothing I do can bring Aquarius back, or give her a new gate so she can visit which proves how horrible I am at making choices. Guess I really can't be trusted. Not even sure I can believe Loke and the others who keep saying Aquarius is alive. I really feel like I did something unforgivable by breaking her key. Natsu and Laxus should both hate me because of that woman saying that she altered pathways so they can't fight despite being Dragon Slayers attached to me. Doesn't matter that they don't hate me yet, because I'm pretty sure that whatever is going to happen will make them hate me in the future. Natsu's always trying to prove himself to Laxus, but now Natsu's big brother complex with Laxus is going to get very warped because of me. If anyone had known about Laxus not really having a gender preference, maybe that woman would never have had any reason to interfere. I wish none of this had happened. If I had died, both of them would have much happier lives.'_

A hollow serpentine voice echoed in the garden which made Lucy jump. _**He'll do nothing because he knows that his Alpha decides what will be allowed when it comes to these matters. **_Lucy was stunned by the feeling of jealousy attached to the spooky voice. Since it was inside the linked world, she could only conclude that it was either Natsu or Laxus doing the thinking. However, the voice sounded nothing like either of their voices which continued pounding through Lucy's inner ears and dominating the back of her mind. Another emotion, not quite so easy to understand flashed across Lucy's senses a moment later.

**I can block everyone from coming into this room to bother us. Protecting her is now my first priority at all times. Without her, I have no mate, nor reason to exist. As the alpha, Natsu has to obey me because he's only a Warrior rank, and can't lead as he already knows. He obeys his alpha female for the most part, so making him bare his neck will be easy. **

A palpable wave of tension was followed by unease and confusion swirling across Lucy's awareness with the force of a physical breeze moments after the rumbling hisses completed their echoing reverberations within the linked world. How Lucy knew that it was Laxus feeling uneasy escaped her logical mind. Shrugging her shoulders and heaving yet another sigh, Lucy risked a glance around the linked world walls. New scenery was flowing across the colorful ripples of energy. Blinking a few times with her brows furrowed, Lucy realized she was looking through Natsu and Laxus eyes at the Fairy Tail Infirmary. The two men were looking at each other and it seemed they were talking if their body language was any indicator.

A tremor of relief flashed through Lucy as both were wearing clothes. Thrusting the invasion of two very well built nude male bodies out of her mind, Lucy tried to understand why she was seeing their interaction outside of this insulted, if mildly trembling place.

Natsu's expression was serious for once as his lips moved. Laxus thinned lips and narrowed eyes flashed into Lucy's sight. The muscular blond rubbed his temples with his first two fingers of each hand. The image shifted as Laxus dropped one hand and began to rub his jaw with the other, his lips twisting into a crooked scowl before shifting to look at her sleeping body next to Natsu. Through Laxus eyes, Lucy became aware that she was also dressed, and covered by a blanket. Even greater relief flowed through Lucy when she registered that she was only naked in this strange place.

Twin images jerked as two sets of eyes settled on their Guild Master. Natsu's view was kind of funny because Makarov had pushed his face so close to Laxus own before speaking. Laxus' eyebrows climbed almost to his hairline as he jerked backward. A split second later, Laxus expression had fully morphed into a toothy sneer with flared nostrils and narrowed eyes. Thunder God really did fit Laxus considering his irritated expression as he spoke. For a moment Lucy found herself almost shaking her head because she almost wished she could read lips to understand whatever Laxus was saying. Seeing Wendy leap forward and put her small hand over Laxus mouth brought a smile to Lucy's lips.

Through Natsu's eyes, Lucy watched the trio interact as if she were watching a movie. Laxus nodded and Wendy let her hand drop. Natsu got closer to them, and Lucy found herself even more curious about their discussion. Seeing Makarov's eyes widen, then the borderline perverse shift coupled with the myriad emotions flitting across Wendy's face had Lucy hoping whatever was said was not too bad. Natsu saw Laxus features shift from bashful to a stony, stern cast as he spoke to his grandfather who in turn looked disappointed. Wendy and Makarov's expressions shifted toward genuine amusement within an instant. With a nod at whatever the Master said to her, Wendy all but skipped out of the room.

More images followed as Lucy savored the sensation of her mind temporarily remaining blessedly blank. Lucy watched what was going on in the waking world without having to be involved in whatever Laxus and Natsu were handling. It was clear that Natsu was making Laxus do most of the talking which was smartest thing they could do. It was obvious to Lucy from the way Makarov's expression shifted that he was trying to figure out everything Laxus and Natsu were not saying. It hurt to see Master Makarov's features age dramatically as he spoke to Laxus and Natsu. Lucy knew that expression as Makarov only had such a look when he was imparting very bad news.

Seeing through Laxus eyes, Lucy cringed as Evergreen swept past Wendy, and led the way into the room while playing barmaid. Freed followed her into the room with a large platter at his waist. A large breakfast was revealed that contained the largest, colorful omelet Lucy had ever seen, with biscuit sandwiches, and a heaping side plate of hash browns. Lucy shook her head as a wave of mild despair flowed through her system. Laxus had as large an appetite as Natsu. The image of two men who ate like Natsu truly unnerved Lucy as it flashed through her brain. Trying to keep herself from getting covered in flying food bits was not something Lucy enjoyed whenever she ate with Natsu and Happy. It was bad enough when Natsu and Happy did it, but if Laxus ate the same way, Lucy vowed to refrain from eating with any of them once she woke up. Thinking about how often she had to place a napkin over her own meal and wait for Natsu to finish eating before touching her own food flashed across Lucy's mind as she watched the unfolding scene.

The fear on Freed's face as his lips moved caught Lucy's attention. Bickslow's posture was that of a man going into battle, teeth clenched and his fists shaking while held at an aggressive angle. Knowing what she did, Lucy felt her heart sink toward her toes, chills slithering up her spine. Laxus friends were very angry was the first thing to skitter across her mind.

'_**Nobody is allowed to harm Blondie. They are going to obey the rules, or be destroyed for trying to come between us. She's mine now and I won't tolerate them disrespecting my mate.'**_

It was the odd snake like voice rumbling audibly inside the garden. It held outright malice, and deep fury this time. The other times it had seemed calm enough, even rational despite the jealousy attached. However, the echoing sibilant voice this time contained a ruthlessness and murderous undertone. Making things even more unnerving was the palpable sensation of twin angers washing over her at different temperatures. The second contained an icier, calculating yet fully contained anger that amplified Lucy's dread of the ruthless blood lust within the first. The two different types of anger induced currents seemed to merge as they flowed and entwined around each other.

A sudden burst of intense joy rippled through the area whipping Lucy's hair around her face for a moment. The feel of it was so bright and bubbly that Lucy knew it had to be coming from Natsu. Confusion set in as a multitude of emotions collided with a haywire set of images that defied understanding flashed upon the energy wall. Lucy wondered what had happened to make the images go haywire as they had. A moment later Natsu's eyes were looking up at an unhappy Laxus and a wave of worry flashed over Lucy. Whatever Laxus was saying had alarmed and embarrassed Natsu.

The images split again as Laxus swung his head around to face Bickslow. It did not take much to see that the Seith mage was very angry. Lucy found it hard to breathe as the raw rage contained in Bickslow's posture slammed into her eyes through Natsu and Laxus combined gaze. Whatever Bickslow continued saying, Lucy felt escalating anger exploded through the small garden. A much stronger wave of bloodlust formed within the confined space that Lucy was still trapped within. Gut wrenching fear took hold of Lucy because of the choking waves of deadly intention building and turning into a palpable emotional storm overhead. Lightning streaked in small amounts of static discharge overhead. Lucy shuddered as she curled into a small ball trying to get beneath the fountain's base for protection.

_**I'm going to rip the damned fool's throat out for yelling loud enough to wake my woman when she needs rest! He's not getting away with ignoring the rules I already set out for him to obey!**_

The inhuman voice howled so loud that it hurt Lucy's ears. Pain lanced through her skull at the murderous intention contained in the beast's volume. Hot and icy rages were boiling and condensing together into a horrific violence laden emotional storm that Lucy felt she had to stop even if she was scared almost witless.

With her arms wrapped over the top of her head Lucy peeked out at the edges of the garden, eyes widening in shock. Not only was the raging and visible storm of energy flowing through the section that Natsu had used to leave earlier, he was looking at Bickslow's broken visor and holding the taller man up by his shirt. Blood was pouring out of Bickslow's nose.

Gasping at what she was seeing, Lucy uncurled from the ball she was in as soft, near whispers in Laxus voice combined with the beastly hissing as a single thought to reach Lucy's ears, "Rip the fool's throat out. Rip it out now. Protect Blondie."

Horror had Lucy clutching her own throat as she understood how dangerous things were getting. The warning of their personalities overlapping flashed back into the forefront of Lucy's mind as Natsu's vision wavered slightly. Without thought, Lucy lunged toward the rose covered arbour she recalled having first awoken within. The only thing Lucy could think was that she had to stop Natsu from killing Bickslow since the other man had every right to be angry. Whomever was controlling Laxus and Natsu had to be stopped.

The sounds of angry voices slammed into Lucy's ears moments after she was spun around because of the odd motion of out of control tumbling she felt.

"Laxus wouldn't do that to Bickslow." Freed protested in tone that suggested he felt horrified by whatever had been suggested before Lucy returned to her body.

"Actually, I'm really tempted to do exactly that because Bickslow's big mouth might be driving Blondie deeper into the linked world to avoid hearing what's being said about her. She's so emotionally shredded that she doesn't want to wake up and see anyone. Natsu and I agree that we won't let anyone hurt her any worse than she's already hurting. Lucy Heartfilia is suffering in ways none of us ever knew because she's always so busy making sure all of us are smiling and happy. Seeing the truth with my own eyes is plenty reason for me to make certain Bickslow doesn't add to her private hell. If he can't get over this fucked up tantrum he's having, I'll end it before he does something Blondie will regret." Laxus voice held a level of rage the likes of which Lucy had never dreamed the man could feel.

Trying to control the surge of genuine fear clogging her throat, Lucy opened her eyes to see Natsu had intermittent flames licking around his fists and dying down only to spark back to life. Natsu's back was to Lucy, but his shaking was visible. A look at Bickslow's broken nose and bloody face made Lucy wince in sympathy. It seemed that Laxus had not realized the emotional attachment his team had developed as Lucy had come to dread when she was thinking inside the garden. Bickslow had every right to hate her for throwing their team's comfortable arrangement into disarray.

"Those Fairies said that you would lose your individual selves to become some kind of extensions of each other. Guess the fact Natsu just used your favorite punishment trick means it's true. You aren't really Laxus anymore, are you?" Bickslow's voice was venomous as he spat the words out.

Lucy knew she had to say something before Natsu sprang into action as she sensed the stranglehold that Laxus had on Natsu. "Wrong, Bickslow." Rolling onto her side, Lucy dug into her reserves to hurl her thoughts, annoyance, and strength toward Laxus. "Let Natsu's mind go, Laxus. If he wasn't strong enough to curb your fury, Bickslow would be dead. He isn't a tool for you to push into doing your bidding, Laxus, and I won't tolerate you using him like one!"

Laxus head whipped toward her. The anger lining Laxus features, including unexpected orange flakes flashing and whirling through his stormy gray eyes made Lucy's breath catch in her throat. However, she was angry at realizing Laxus had used Natsu as a tool. To Lucy there was nothing more unforgivable.

"Welcome back, Luce. You feeling okay?" Natsu leapt toward her bed and dropped intuit next to her knees, all traces of anger gone as he gave her a big toothy grin.

Laxus turned his head back toward Bickslow. Lucy needed to calm the large blond man down before he followed through and did something unforgivable. Whatever that inhuman voice was, it had to be to blame for Laxus acting this way as far as Lucy could tell. Gathering her mental and magical strength, Lucy pushed hard against Laxus mind despite not being completely certain of what she was doing.

Feeling a shift in Laxus as her mind connected to the overwhelming angry and defensive mind of the blond who was hell bent on defending her, Lucy spoke aloud while her own emotions flowed through the odd link forming between her and Laxus. "Don't even think it. I know you're mad about what he's been saying, but Bickslow is only being a jerk because he cares about you. I understand that, and so should you, Laxus. Natsu is easy to get riled enough for you to control him, but I'm not."

"He's way out of line, Blondie. Worst of all, he forced you to wake up when you weren't ready." Laxus anger was not lessening.

Lucy let her own understanding and concern overflow as she sought to stifle the violent desire to exact punishment for her awakening so abruptly that was overriding any common sense Laxus should have been using. The bone deep belief that he needed to protect her was at the heart of Laxus and Natsu's earlier anger. However, Lucy was not going to let Laxus ignore the possibilities of this being a direct result of his friends with benefits lifestyle. Anyone who had an attachment to the three of them would be understandably upset by this situation. Lips thinning, Lucy realized that Laxus had no idea that it was his fury that had pushed her to leave the trembling sanctuary and stop the escalating violence she saw happening inside the link world.

Anger spiking, Lucy yelled at the pig headed man who was only half listening to her. "Actually, your blood lust is what forced me to get up, Twinkle Toes! Natsu lives on instincts instead of thinking, so that makes him susceptible to your overwhelming personality so long as you have a similar emotion at the same time. He's mad at Bickslow too, but Natsu knows that a friend should be angry when they think their dearest friend has been hurt or abused. It was his strong love for all his friends that he considers family, combined with me getting forced to wake up that allowed him to use a different attack than you wanted to use on your own friend."

"Quit screeching, Blondie. Shit, your voice is almost a freaking lethal weapon. You know that?" Laxus plugged his ear with his thumb as he visibly winced.

A glance around the room had Lucy thinking of ways to alert everyone that something was going very wrong with Laxus. "I'll calm down after you do, Twinkle Toes! And another thing, we are finding out who that is talking in your head because it's giving you very bad ideas! I'm not property to fight over or defend. I'm a human being the same as you. Whoever it is talking about being an alpha versus a lower status person is causing problems. If I catch the jerk telling you to make Natsu obey you, I'm going to rip them apart with my bare hands and whip."

Evergreen began to chuckle. "Twinkle Toes? Really, Lucy?"

"As long as Laxus calls me Blondie, he's going to live with an equally stupid nickname. I've already warned him to get used to it. When he uses my name, I use his name. If he calls me Blondie, he gets called Twinkle Toes."

"Wait, Lucy. Did the voice use the word Alpha, or Warrior specifically when you heard it?" Makarov demanded in a loud enough voice to gain immediate silence.

Lucy nodded, not wanting to break the fragile calm descending upon the room. Hope swelled that Master Makarov already knew what was going on so she could stop it from messing with the extremely powerful man she found herself monitoring with a wary eye.

Laxus sounded cautious as he addressed his grandfather. "How did you know what terms it used?"

"It's the dragon Lacrima interfering. This is why you need to talk to Igneel and Metalicana, Laxus. They have to teach you how to deal with the lacrima because it is resonating with your personality now that it's unsealed. After everything was cleaned up from the spell that was done yesterday to get you back, the dragons told me the lacrima doesn't have the ability to distinguish that you aren't the dragon it was part of all those years ago. It functions the same as any other thought process you normally have, but won't sound the same for a while. So in a way, Lucy's correct that it can cause serious problems unless you master the full Lacrima potentials that have been activated."

A wave of fatigue far stronger than before broke Lucy's concentration on keeping up the calmer emotional waves she had been trying to keep attached to Laxus mind. A sense of mild despair filled Lucy's heart over having two men being controlled by their magic to contend with around the clock. According to Master Makarov's words, Lucy was dreading the fall out from Laxus version of magic taking over his mind far more than the easier to handle emotional upheaval Natsu endured. At least Natsu had no problem with her doing the bulk of the thinking between them. In Laxus case, the opposite was going to be true most of the time because he was a take charge of everything type of personality.

Aloud, Lucy asked, "So is Laxus going to change because of this unsealing that has happened, Master?"

"It should be easy enough for Laxus to control. The unsealing means that Laxus will actually be able to tap into actual dragon memories at will." Makarov stepped up beside Lucy's cot and patted her blanket covered calf with a reassuring smile.

Freed's voice caught Lucy's attention, but she could not see him because of Natsu and Makarov being in the way. "We were told all of you would lose your individual personalities if you were asleep too long so I think it is obvious that Laxus would be able to control Natsu to some extent since you were all asleep for close to a week."

Laxus sighed and went back to eating. It was a bit of a surprise when the man's voice reverberated inside her skull. _'They don't need to know anything, Bl . . . Lucy. Leave it alone.'They're just going to be annoying and it isn't any of their business what's going on with us at this time. After we have things sorted out, we can decide what to tell everyone in the guild.'_

Lucy frowned but used the last of her determination to keep the strength needed to scold him for his callous attitude toward his own team. _'Laxus Dreyer, stop being a jerk. They care or they wouldn't be in here trying to make sure you're okay. All of them love you as their family. Just eat so your stomach stops interfering with your ability to control your temper. We need to do something about that damned voice so talking to the dragons outside just became our priority. Once your not hungry, you should be able to guard against it until Wendy lets us get out of bed!'_

Ignoring Laxus demand to keep silent, Lucy began explaining what had happened to try and calm things down, and hopefully reassure Laxus teammates in any way she could that the two men were not becoming extensions of each other. "Natsu has a very hard time controlling his dragon side for a lack of a better name for his instinct and magic. He has to focus a lot of his thinking on keeping his instincts and magic under control so he doesn't really have a lot of room for thinking about unnecessary things. Laxus on the other hand felt his and Natsu's combined anger and suddenly the weird, inhuman voice that's getting stronger jumped on the idea of ripping Bickslow's throat out so I had to help Natsu downgrade the attack because Laxus is so angry he can barely control himself right now. He's also starving so this little get together should have waited until after things have settled down enough for us to have recovered from the shock. I can't believe I'm caught between two Dragon Slayers like this, but I'll figure out how to deal with things better in the future. I've never experienced this kind of hunger driven rage before."

"Hunger driven rage isn't the problem, Dear Child. I've long suspected that Laxus likes you a lot more than he's been willing to show over the years." Master spoke in a firm tone as he turned a stony glare onto Laxus who seemed inclined to ignore everything but his food.

Lucy felt Laxus' emotions spike in irritation which the much larger man was trying to hide. The reality that Freed had said they were asleep for most of a week shocked Lucy as it registered fully within her befuddled mind. It was no wonder that Laxus breakfast smelled so amazing although it was rare for Lucy to find herself attracted to eating such heavy foods. Her mouth started to water as the smell of Laxus food began to fully captivate Lucy's senses and shoved almost all other thoughts from her mind.

Before she could find her voice to ask for something to eat, was handing a plate with a sausage and biscuit sandwich and hash browns to her. "Eat something, Blo . . . Lucy."

Lucy sat up and took the offered plate with a smile that she hoped conveyed her gratitude. Even if it was not the kind of thing she would normally eat, Lucy was so grateful for the chance to eat that it would have been impossible to say it very well. Evergreen handed her a glass of juice without any obvious anger in her gaze. She nibbled on the biscuit and sausage while trying to control her desire to stuff the thing in her mouth. Choking was not an option. It would only make her nauseous and Lucy knew it was smarter to drink the juice than strain her stomach after going so long without eating.

Lucy began speaking to keep herself from acting like Natsu. "I mean exactly that, Master. The voice started whispering and annoying me and Laxus both right before I kicked them out of the linked world because I was getting overwhelmed by both of their hunger driven irritation. That lady Shiv called the place Linked world and told us a little about what it was, so at least we know more than we did about the soul binding magic. Before they showed up, Laxus had me convinced they were somehow inside my mind because they honestly thought that was where they were. Loke broke the spell Aquarius used on me before Mustache Man gave me powers that were a lot like Aquarius magic so I could continue to fight to protect my guild family."

Again Lucy felt Laxus pushing his full attention, coupled with powerful concern for her into her mind. "Don't start thinking about it, Blondie. Losing your second mom because you felt you had to choose us isn't helping you handle what's happening now. You obeyed her command to break her key because she was the only one you had to rely upon, and feel connected to your dead mother. She was the one who listened to you and tucked you into bed at night from a young age. You love her like your own mother, so you did as she told you to do, and that isn't the same thing as betrayal. Aquarius was the closest thing you had to a caring parent for most of your life. After your mom died, your ability to summon Aquarius was your only break from being ignored, or yelled at until you ran away from home. She made you obey her to save your life the same as any real mother would have done, Blondie. I know what she did to try and save you, and I'll never see any spirit the same way I did before."

Everyone in the room made a diverse set of noises as Laxus lectured her much to Lucy's embarrassment. In a way Lucy knew it should be no surprise that Laxus was also getting a nbit of pay back for her having explained the other voice she had also heard. Things were not going to go smoothly between them, but at least Lucy knew she had no plans to reveal anything that was not absolutely necessary to help Laxus get things under control for himself.

Bickslow's voice was the first one to be heard as Lucy looked away from them all and took another small bite out of the biscuit Laxus had given her. "Wait. Cosplayer sacrificed a spirit that she thought of as her mom?"

"You damn right she did. Why else would I be so fucking furious with you for talking shit about her, Bicks? One of the Tartarus demons forced her to choose between her guild family, including us while we were out of commission, and the spirit who's acted as her only real family for most of her life. She chose all of us even though obeying Aquarius has almost destroyed her. Blondie's been faking smiles plus anything else all she can think of to make sure we're all happy and recovering from that brutal fight. These last few months, she's been living through her own private hell the whole time she's cheered up all of our Guild members. She whines about rent and stupid shit to keep the rest of us from noticing that personal pain and self hate's been eating her alive!"

Lucy stiffened at the last part of Laxus angry tirade. Nobody needed to know about her own misery. As the Light of Fairy Tail, Lucy had done all she could think of to try and ease everyone's pain. It was the only thing she could think of to do for her new family. Seeing the others so miserable was not easy for Lucy, so she had buried her sorrow when she was around everyone else. Her efforts had returned the smiles to everyone's faces so Lucy did not regret her decision to hide her own pain.

"If I ever hear anyone call Lucy Heartfilia weak because she asks her Celestial Spirits to be her fighting partners, and treats them like her literal family, I'm going to say screw the Guild's no killing rules and fry the bastards into charcoal. Nobody should have to make the kind of sacrifice she made for all of us. Lucy's the strongest person in this damned guild as far as I'm concerned. I made the right choice when I told those strangers to let me help save her life. I don't regret anything other than making things harder on her when she came here because all I could see was a pretty girl that I was lumping in the same category as the ones I dealt with over the years who wanted a meaningless thrill because of my being a powerful mage. Lucy isn't like that at all, and I was wrong to ever think she's shallow like they were."

Laxus words shook Lucy to her foundations. The link Laxus had established was still holding so Lucy felt how sincere he was being. It also stung because it meant Laxus was giving his team a rather underhanded break up right in front of Wendy and his own grandfather. Ducking her head, Lucy found herself holding her breath, and tensing her shoulders. Shuffling feet and a clearing throat greeted Lucy's ears.

"We understand, Laxus Sama. None of us knew that Lucy san was in pain, or that she had done something like that. I mean, we understand that Bickslow is very fond of his lost souls, so I suppose we thought of Lucy's spirits as being roughly the same." Freed was speaking for the team but Lucy feared to look over and see the hatred she feared Bickslow would be holding inside.

"They aren't, Freed. Lucy loves her spirits as if they are literal family members no matter how they look on the outside. She knows they love her a lot so she lets them do things for her that she can do for herself because it makes them happier. Lucy knows how much her spirits appreciate her kindness, and how driven they feel to repay her any way she'll let them. Even that damned idiot Loke genuinely loves her in a way he's never loved any other female he was using while he was here." Laxus grumbled as he admitted something that nobody else had ever understood.

"Thank you, Laxus. I didn't think anyone could ever really understand why I love Celestial Spirits so much, or why I treat them like I do." Lucy felt her emotions break from the tight reign she tried to keep over them as the pain and sorrow overflowed and choked off her ability to speak or breathe. Natsu's familiar if blurry clothing loomed in front of Lucy's eyes. An all too familiar heat wrapped around Lucy as the floodgates she had erected to stem the tide shattered beyond repair. Lucy found herself falling into Natsu's silent hold as the tears ripped through her defenses and exploded from her eyes in painful waves that she could not stop.

Too tired to fight all her emotions back into a locked box within her heart, Lucy was embarrassed by how hard the pain made her body shake, loud sobs tearing free against her will. Nobody had ever realized that Aquarius had become something of a surrogate mother to Lucy when she was a small child. Yet Laxus had realized the truth Lucy had never spoken to anyone. Lucy had lost two mothers in her lifetime, instead of only one. The pain of accepting the truth that Aquarius had become Lucy's second mother, who she had betrayed to save her guild mates made the grief and pain far worse than it had been before the sum of the truth rent through Lucy's heart with searing, all encompassing pain.

~~oo0oo~~


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** My apologies for this A/N being long winded but I am going to answer ongoing PM themes this round. As always, I am grateful for every person who faves, follows, PM's, and reviews this story. Everyone's interest keeps me motivated to find time to write. Positive and serious critical reviews help me to continue believing that I am not writing a horrific dud so thanks for the wonderful motivation. I've had an insanely busy week which blew any hope of scheduling my writing. _'Telepathy going on in this chapter as Laxus and Natsu figure out the Soul Bond is in italics.'_

**Top Questions Answered:** **"Ships" and "Threesomes" **The "Soul Bond" is a trial of true acceptance that all three characters have to face. As to whether both, neither, or only one Slayer gets Lucy, the characters will decide. I'm leaving things up to them. Acceptance of different personality needs is this plot line's core, so I am hurling hard core prude factor hitting ideas at Lucy. Unlike many people, I only write stories where I can attune to characters who tell their stories to avoid flops and duds storylines so at this point, your guess actually is as good as my own. If there was not a cannon hint of crush, or similar feelings backing Laxus, he would not be the one pitted against Natsu's out of control **"Dragon Instincts."** Dragon Instincts overloading Slayers' minds is a complication devise. My idea of **"crack-ships" **differs from the majority because "crack-ships" exclude any cannon hinted possibility. Laxus hits on Lucy a couple times, although he is an arrogant jerk about it, so is not a "crack-ship" to me, although it appears some people think of Lucy and Laxus that way. Laxus does things that imply he could develop a genuine "cannon" crush/unrequited love for Lucy so I picked him as Natsu's ongoing "problem" to face himself. **Loke and Vraylinish have to come to terms with his last day of life being many people's memories mashed together. So that "Ship" will depend on The Spirit King and the pair's Honor/Stubbornness clashes among other factors getting worked out as the story progresses.

Finally: My account at Adult-Fanfiction org with same SN will have the Laxus memories of, or any sex that this story may include in final form. I'll post the revised version at AFF later. It is a moderated archive for "Adults Only" so Please respect my decision to protect my FFN account by omitting themes that are subject to purges. I got purged during the 90's and could not get a new account for several years here, so I will not break the no smut rule. The M rate is for FFN's allowed fights and cussing, not site banned sex.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Fairy Tail characters, just the nut cases/weird plot bunny scenarios I torment the cannon characters with as often as possible.

CHAPTER 20

Natsu felt Lucy relax as her breathing settled into a peaceful rhythm from the previous jagged hiccups and shudders of active anguish. It was not the first time Lucy had cried herself to sleep against his chest. If anything Natsu was relieved that he was still allowed to be there for her. His pain came from Natsu knowing he was part of the problem that caused Lucy to fall apart. Despite his lack of intention to hurt the woman resting against him, Natsu knew he had done damage. He had never thought of using Lucy the way it was being revealed to Natsu that he had because of not thinking about his impulses. It made Natsu angry with himself because he had become so used to having Lucy to calm his dragon side that it never registered how his thoughtless actions always hurt her. However, it was the first time Natsu had ever felt like exploding into extreme violence over one of Lucy's moments of shattered defenses.

"My poor child. Lucy doesn't deserve so much pain." Makarov spoke with his brow etched in sorrow.

"Crying should lp Lucy san to feel better faster, Master." Wendy pointed out.

Looking around the infirmary, Natsu noticed how little Lucy had eaten of her meal. Unlike himself and Laxus, Lucy was a little sick to her stomach after several days without eating anything. A glance at Wendy and the smaller girl stepped closer. "Hey, Lucy had trouble eating. I think it hurt her stomach. Can you do something to help her feel better, Wendy?"

A sharp nod of assent and Wendy set to work with her healing magic. "Lucy should be able to eat solid food when she wakes up. I'll ask Mirajane to make her a rich broth and something mildly seasoned to get her stomach fully working again."

As Wendy headed out of the infirmary, arms loaded down with discarded plates, Natsu turned his head back to watch Laxus. Because Lucy had collapsed against his chest, Laxus was glaring at Natsu which made clear who's rage he was experiencing. The rage had set in as Natsu absorbed Lucy's howls of pain before she passed out from all her crying. Having another Dragon Slayer who was even more interested in Lucy, on a different level from himself was enough to worry Natsu about how long their truce could last.

Bickslow was not the only one Laxus wanted to beat to a pulp, and Natsu was aware of the fact. From the things that Natsu was picking up due to the strange mental link, Laxus was very angry at him for being the one Lucy had clung to as she cried. In Natsu's mind, he was cringing because his impulses were viewed as using Lucy by both of them. Such ideas were hard to argue against when the memories were so vivid even though the hurt had never been intentional on Natsu's part. Still, Laxus also knew what drove Natsu's behaviors so should get over his anger fast enough, or so Natsu tried to reason.

'_Obviously Blondie's the person who keeps you the calmest and happiest. I get the point, but I don't have to like it when you're marking her with your scent all the damned time, Flame Brain. You need to learn to think before you act. You've constantly been unfair to Blondie, plus giving her, and me the wrong ideas about what you want from her ever since she became part of this guild. Even though I went about everything wrong, I never went around hurting her by being a self absorbed jackass who was making too many demands over the last few years into a way of life!' _Laxus mental voice slammed into Natsu's brain with a biting, angry tone.

'_Luce's my sanity. Being around her gives me a break from the constant war with myself. I thought Luce understood my need to be with her was about controlling my dragon side, and you know that's what I thought. Luce is the only one that I can relax around without my dragon side going out of control. She always looked happy to share her time with me. At least I didn't realize I was taking advantage of her kind heart. Least I'm willing to fix things now that I know where I've messed up. What about you, Laxus?' _Natsu mentally snarled back at Laxus.

'_Your friendship has always had the potential to go beyond platonic, despite your stupid assumptions. Caving to your out of control impulses might lead to risking Lucy to your dragon side's violent behaviors. Who knows? Maybe you're right, but you could still cross the line, and you've been hurting Blondie by being a fucking self absorbed ass all this time. Keeping the dragon stuffed away is obviously hard for you. I get why you cling to Blondie so you feel that you can sleep in relative safety. Just get ready because things are going to be changing a lot from now on. You're going to learn how to deal with your dragon instincts because I'm going to make sure of it, Flametard.'_ Laxus thundered which made Natsu wince in pain.

'_You hurt Luce too, Lightning Rod! Don't assume you can railroad Luce because I won't let you force her to accept you if she can't handle your lifestyle. As long as you think of her as a prude, you don't deserve her anymore than I do. And quit it with the lame nick names, will ya? Luce hates being called Blondie and you know it. At least I got permission to call her Luce, same as Levy to call her Lu-chan. Find a new nickname and get her permission to use it so she doesn't feel that you can't respect her!'_

Feeling Laxus mind yank away from his, Natsu inhaled deeply and let it out slowly to unlock his very tense muscles. Overall, Natsu felt strange having both Lucy and Laxus somewhat connected to his own thoughts and emotions. Seeing so many images, and getting waves of their emotions was throwing Natsu out of his precariously maintained balance. It was not as if Natsu felt he had any solid balance before this strange spell was cast upon all three of them, so he was struggling harder than ever. Struggling to figure out who was feeling and seeing what at any given moment was a daunting provocation Natsu had to overcome.

Even so, Natsu refused to lose his natural optimism about winning this newest fight. Unlike Lucy's shocked panic, or Laxus burning fury, over things getting revealed that everyone had hidden, Natsu figured that whatever was going to be thrown at them would be dealt with as they moved forward. They had to come to terms with everything happening between them although none of them wanted to do so. Life experiences happened and there was not much Natsu could do aside from giving his best efforts to accepting everything. It helped Natsu to believe that knowing where he made mistakes meant he could repair the damage that he had not understood he had caused in the past.

It hurt Natsu to discover that he had hurt Lucy without any intention. Natsu figured he would try harder to make Lucy happier in the future wherever possible. Not realizing how much stress he placed upon Lucy's shoulders all the time, Natsu had been blind to Lucy's ongoing struggle to cope with his draconic side. Natsu knew he had to make some changes, like increase how much reward money Lucy took home since she was always feeding him and Happy. All of them should increase Lucy's share since all the team ate at Lucy's place most of the time. Although Lucy hated to be alone, Natsu was starting to comprehend why she 'Lucy Kicked' him and Grey out of her place so often. All Lucy really wanted was for them to knock upon, and use her front door. Maybe bringing over ingredients for the massive meals she made them so she was able to pay her rent without fearing eviction each month. It was not as if Lucy was against them using her place as their refuge. Lucy was angry that they did not give her any personal space boundaries which she desperately wanted so she could relax.

Laxus was adamant to insure Natsu's unruly dragon instincts were under control, which was a relief of sorts for Natsu. As he had always looked up to the older Mage as a surrogate brother, Natsu was happy that Laxus understood his ongoing, and genuine problem with controlling his beast side. Then again, Laxus was also uneasy about similar feelings to his own that they both had been hiding from Lucy. Both of them were drawn to Lucy like a magnet draws in metal, but from different sides. Laxus was crazy about Lucy for the beautiful woman she was on the outside, and the few things he got to see during their very short interactions, while Natsu was drawn to her calming effect, and forgiving heart.

Watching with a wary eye, Natsu monitored Laxus as he tried to sort out what he had learned about the older Dragon Slayer. The much larger man was a different situation to handle with much caution required by Natsu. Caution was a weakness that Natsu had to overcome when dealing with Laxus. To say that Laxus was angry did not do justice to the violent emotions Natsu felt radiating from him, coupled with deadly glares raking over everyone in the room. Sensing that Laxus would fight to contain himself because of Lucy, Natsu still did not breathe any easier because of how much Laxus was struggling with his own dragon impulses. It had taken Natsu working with Gajeel to stop Laxus the one time they got into a serious fight. Natsu knew how much stronger Laxus had gotten during his time in exile which made caution even more necessary.

Instincts warned Natsu that dangerous did not begin to cover how bad things would be for anyone in Laxus path if he lost control over his fury due to the drive to protect a potential mate. The tension in every one of Laxus' muscles, and the scent of barely contained rage meant Laxus was exceptionally volatile, and needed space. Remaining very still so as not to tip the balance was Natsu's best option, aside from handing Lucy over to the furious older man to protect personally. However, Natsu had a feeling that handing Lucy to Laxus would cause even greater trouble with the Thunder God tribe. If Natsu was correct about the way Bickslow would erupt, Lucy would become the trigger that got Bickslow killed. The Seith Mage did not have his babies with him, and they were his first line of self defense when he was attacked.

As if the trio of Thunder God members had heard Natsu's thoughts, Freed pulled up a chair and sat next to Laxus' cot, farthest away from Lucy, and shielding Bickslow. Evergreen slid onto the foot of Laxus cot, as if seeking to distract her team leader from Lucy's condition.

Evergreen rested her hands in her lap and began to speak. "Laxus sama, is there anything we can do for you? Or any ideas how we could maybe help Lucy through her time of grieving?"

Natsu noticed that Bickslow moved marginally back and into Freed's shadow from where he was resting on his knees. Somehow, Laxus team was pulling their personal emotions back and trying to make peace offerings, or so it looked that way to Natsu. Nonetheless, Laxus was not relaxing yet, and that worried Natsu. The fact Laxus remained so focused on trying to keep watch on Bickslow was alarming Natsu.

Bickslow had pushed Laxus too far when he constantly, if unintentionally, insulted Lucy, and Natsu understood that better than anyone. The viciously worded anger Bickslow had spewed made Natsu want to do real bodily harm to the Seith Mage until he took his nasty comments back. Unlike Laxus, Natsu was not on the same team, so did not know the other man nearly as well as Laxus. The fact that Laxus kept the vast majority of his attention on Bickslow, and was looking for any sign of danger, as if waiting to defend Lucy, kept Natsu edgy. Even if the bigger man was sitting still, Natsu could feel and smell the borderline blood lust radiating off of the larger Slayer. To say Laxus was busy focusing on holding back his lightning magic was an understatement. Even though they were different people, Natsu knew Laxus was in a pitched battle with his Dragon Lacrima.

Over the three and a half years of actual time that Lucy had been an active part of the guild, Natsu had heard and seen enough to know Laxus liked Lucy more than any of the other woman within the guild. However, Natsu had never realized exactly how strong Laxus felt toward his best friend and teammate until now. Bickslow did not have the same excuse as Natsu. After being in the Linked World, Natsu knew Bickslow was aware of the long standing attraction Laxus had for Lucy. From what Natsu had learned from Laxus memories in the Linked World, all the Thunder Tribe members were aware of Laxus having very strong feelings for Lucy. At least, the three mages knew their leader wanted to get his hands on Lucy's body. From Laxus memories, Natsu understood that Laxus had never told them the full story about how infatuated he was with Lucy, but they knew of attraction all the same.

Freed leaned forward and began talking. "Laxus sama, Bickslow isn't going to hurt Lucy san. Please understand that this spell that was cast on all three of you has distressed Bickslow greatly. You know how much he hates his Figure Eyes power. Bickslow thinks this spell that was cast upon you, Lucy san, and Natsu kun is like the few times he has been forced to use his Figure Eyes. It's upsetting to think that anyone would use a spell like Figure Eyes possession on you, and we failed to stop it. You saved all of us, and brought us here. Bickslow especially feels he has failed you."

"Freed's right, Laxus sama. I'm angry about this mess happening to you and not being able to act in time to spare you from this crap. We didn't know you had volunteered, and the spell took away some of your ability to make your own decisions. They just keep adding to the stripping of your free will with your Grandfather's blessing no less." Bickslow's voice spat with rancid venom.

"My will's free enough, Bickslow. I'm relieved that I've gotten this chance to help Blondie, and you know I've always wanted a chance to get to know her. Things may be strange right now, but at least she knows the truth now. I'm finally able to learn that Natsu wasn't putting a claim on her either. She's been keeping him sane all this time, and none of us knew about his problem. Now that I know these things, I can finally set things right."

Evergreen gnawed her bottom lip, staring at her feather fan clasped in her lap. Freed glanced over at Lucy as Natsu watched the Rune Mage's expression shift through a series of emotions. Natsu could not smell any rage from either of them, only a type of depression that shifted their scents slightly.

Although Natsu remained a bit confused over the Thunder God Tribe's weird team dynamics from Laxus not so happily shared memories, he still wondered if Bickslow's rage stemmed from the team's strange friendship. Then again, Natsu did not know much about Bickslow's Figure Eyes aside from the magic causing some form of temporary possession. If Bickslow was thinking that Lucy or himself were possessing Laxus, it could also explain the Seith Mage's outrage and fury if not created by some fear of losing Laxus.

So many memories of their weird agreement that had evolved a few years ago made their possible deeper attachment hard to ignore. Lucy thought their friends with benefits deal was the cause of Bickslow's nastiness. Believing Lucy was far smarter than himself, Natsu agreed. Thinking was never Natsu's strong suit, but emotions and instincts were the things he understood best. Seeing how angry Bickslow was gave Natsu plenty of reason to agree with Lucy's unspoken thoughts picked up as she cried. Noticing the shift in Evergreen and Freed's body language that mirrored a deep cut sorrow and air of defeat only added to Natsu's belief in Lucy's idea.

"Laxus, I'll stay here with Luce. Why don't you talk this over with your teammates. I mean, they kind of have a reason to be pissed off right now. They want to protect you because you're their leader and family. It makes sense that if Bickslow thinks me or Luce are possessing you, he'd be really mad at both of us. So cut him some slack and hear him out so the air gets cleared faster." Natsu kept his voice even as he spoke.

Laxus turned to hit him with a narrow eyed glare. _'Trying to get rid of me?'_

'_No. A fair chunk of Lucy's pain is because she believes she's intruding on your established relationships, and I think you picked up on that part of her crying already. I saw Evergreen's fast shift of expression, along with Freed's reaction to what you said, Laxus. Both mages act like they aren't all that surprised by your words about having no regrets in asking those strangers to let you help Luce. We both kept Luce alive, and saw everything whether we wanted to or not. I know you're happy about things they told us about how we're stuck with Lucy for life because of parts of our souls getting swapped around with each other. Although you're annoyed that I'm part of the deal, I know you want to respect Lucy's friendship bond with me and will keep our truce alive. To prevent Bickslow from misunderstanding things further, you have to talk to them and explain how things are changing, if they are going to be changing.'_

'_Don't lecture me, Idiot. I know my team a lot better than you ever could hope to understand. Bickslow's freaking out and when he does, his powers get really fucking unstable. Even if his babies aren't here in the room, I know they're close. One wrong move and they'll fly in and attack you and Blondie. I have to stay alert until Bickslow settles down.'_

When it came to understanding that Laxus was having serious trouble constraining his instincts to destroy his teammate over the assumption that Bickslow was turning on Lucy, Natsu read Laxus like a book. Laxus was aware that Lucy was feeling hurt by many things and it had put the much larger man into a very foul mood. Knowing he had messed up on accident, Natsu was willing to do whatever he could to make things right with Lucy because he truly did care a lot about her. However Natsu had no intention of letting his dragon side control how he acted with Lucy for her own safety. Had Natsu known Laxus was head over heels in love with his best friend since the first time he had seen Lucy, things would not be so awkward.

'_You can help him settle down faster by making it clear how this bond actually works then. If Bickslow knows you're not losing your ability to think for yourself, he'll get control faster. Won't he? Isn't it worth a shot, even if you hate explaining things?'_

'_I'm not leaving this room, Salamander. I guess I have no choice but to try and explain this to my team, but I'm not going to risk Blondie getting hurt. I'm a lot faster than you if Bickslow's babies go berserk because of how upset he is right now. They do have limited free will of their own, and when Bicks is losing it, his lost souls tend to act on their own to put down whatever's causing Bickslow's grief. His babies can be damned dangerous when he's pissed off enough.'_

Natsu was not shocked by that piece of information. Yet at the same time, Natsu knew it was not quite the full truth. Bickslow had to have a target for the babies to attack. Yet another thing Natsu had picked up without it being conscious of learning anything about Laxus' teammates. How many things did Laxus know about him and Luce without being conscious of it yet?

'_Well, we have lots of things to talk to Luce about too, but I don't think you want to embarrass Luce when she wakes up by having your team as an audience. I'm sure they would rather talk to you alone right now so they can work things out also. We'll be fine if your close by, like down the hallway and away from Gramps. The faster Bickslow understands we aren't possessing you, the better for all of us. When he calms down the danger from his babies drops. Seems like a winning deal to me if we can convince him to keep his babies under control. Besides, if he's super attached to you, then you owe it to him to work things out so he can deal with whatever you chose to do in the future. Don't you agree, Laxus?'_

'_Like what kind of things am I supposed to be working out?'_

'_Like what's going to happen with your ongoing deal with your team. Luce is freaking out over that one a lot. It's not like either one of us have even thought about the things you and your team like to do, Laxus. A lot of your one night stands were done as a way to ignore how you feel about Luce. Now that she knows about your recent past, it's making her feel horrible, and like she's somehow taking you away from your team even though she didn't try to do that at all. Luce hates thinking she's wrecking people's lives. Considering her dad tried to wreck Fairy Tail, I can't blame her for feeling really bad about your teammates. She's pretty set that Bickslow's flipping out because of being angry about possibly losing you as his best friend and fellow kink explorer. I see her being weirded out by your teammates having a problem with her because of this Soul Binding Spell.'_

'_I don't need some damned morality lecture from the likes of you, Flame Brain. My team's kinks aren't your business. The real problem is Blondie is such a fucking prude. She's like Freed in some ways.' _

'_Lucy hates lies, Lightning Rod. She won't tolerate them, and she doesn't have to if I am starting to figure out how this stupid link works. None of us can hide anything, so we might as well get used to what's going on. I don't really care about what you've done, but Luce is going to continue hurting until your team's okay with whatever you all decide together is best for dealing with our situation. At least make up your mind and talk to your team because Luce won't be able to talk to any of them so long as nobody knows what's going on with you on the outside of our Soul Binding. You're the only one who can explain things to them, and you know it.'_

In Natsu's opinion, he did not care what Laxus had going on with his teammates because it was not his concern. However, Lucy had a melt down on multiple levels when she realized Laxus liked to do things she thought were downright immoral and disrespectful toward women. Dealing with Lucy when she awoke next was not going to be pleasant in Natsu's eyes. Having his hands full of a freaked out, and angry Lucy was never any fun. At least Natsu knew he was not the one who was going to get a super painful Lucy Kick this round.

If there was one thing Natsu knew, it was that Laxus had really hurt Lucy by never talking to her about his feelings for her. Lucy was also overwhelmed by everything learned about both of them, which only made Lucy more emotional and panicky. Having two Dragon Slayer mages to contend with was making Lucy very worried, and Natsu felt it radiating from her. In a very strange way, Natsu felt as if he had to help Laxus understand how Lucy reacted to things very soon, or the much larger man was going to scare Lucy far worse than she already was of their situation.

Dragon instincts were always rough to deal with, and it seemed in Laxus case, he had an actual piece of a dead dragon putting far more pressure on the man's sanity since it could actually talk. Giving up his place with Lucy, which brought the only real relief Natsu knew, was not an option. So Natsu wondered if there was a way to keep the peace with Laxus who was now determined to make Lucy his mate and life partner. Much as Natsu liked to pit his increasing strength against the older man that he viewed as a big brother, his dragon side was not pleased about the older Slayer being so interested in his best friend.

"Tch." Laxus grumbled. "We need to talk things over, so let's go into the hall near the door. I can't go far from Blondie until she's stable, so the hallway is going to have to suffice. Keep your babies under control, Bicks, because Blondie had no say in what happened. Only Natsu and I were aware of this spell at the time. So they need to leave her alone because she's innocent. Deal?"

Bickslow grunted and stood. "Yeah. I'm not letting them do anything. I left them outside because I know I'm freaking out."

With a final snarling glare directed at Natsu, Laxus stood and headed for the Infirmary door. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Keep Blondie stable."

Natsu nodded his consent as Laxus yanked open the door and stepped out of the room with his team following behind him. "I've got Luce covered, Gramps. I'll send word when she wakes up again."

Makarov sighed. What was going on with you and my Grandson, Natsu? The two of you kept staring at each other without saying anything. Do I need to be worried about you fighting over Lucy?"

Natsu shook his head. "We can hear each other's thoughts, kind of like the way we can hear Warren when we need to work as teams. But, we can only hear each other. Laxus is really pissed about Bickslow and thinks his babies might try something so was bossing me around about how to handle things if Bickslow loses control of his lost souls. Plus, we were arguing a bit about Luce and him needing to explain what's going on to his team so they can calm down."

Natsu watched as the old man tugged on his mustache. "Are you absolutely sure you and Laxus won't get into any fights if I leave you alone?"

"Of course. We both have very different kinds of relationships with Luce, so it shouldn't be a problem. Laxus knows I don't have the mate mentality with Luce that he has. He even offered to help me handle my dragon side so I don't need to hang off Luce all the time. I'm kind of glad that there's a way to control it better." Natsu was quick to reassure the old Guild Master.

A startled lifting of Makarov's brows, before his expression settled, told Natsu that he had given too much information away. "I'll be close by if you two get into a fight to bust up any infractions, Brat. So behave, and I'll check back in a little while."

Natsu grinned at his surrogate grandfather and nodded. Makarov turned and left the infirmary. Natsu Lucy back into her bed, and held her hand as she slept, hoping that she would get genuine rest so she would feel stronger when she next awoke.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, faves, and follows that I have received. I appreciate every one of them a lot. Yeah, I did make Natsu abnormally mature for once as was pointed out to me. Natsu does have his grown up moments before caving to the hyperactive side again, and the catalyst always seems to be Lucy. Additional Note at end to explain a term that some may find confusing.

2 person POV separated by ==oo0oo==

CHAPTER 21

Everything happened so fast that Lucy had no time to react before she was blind and twitching. A numb buzzing tingle was overloading the sum of her body. Lucy's ears took in Laxus enraged roar. "You damn near fried Blondie you fucking morons! If you want to fight about what to do about his out of control dragon instincts, at least have enough sense to leave the rest of us out of it! If I couldn't move so fast, Blondie would've burned to death almost instantly inside your crazy blast zone!"

Lucy tried to get her mind functioning as waves of protective fury flashed through her short circuiting mind. Struggling to breathe as her lungs cried for air, Lucy focused on regaining control of her body. It took a couple tries but Lucy got a stuttering, much needed gulp of oxygen into her pinging lungs. Voices were closing upon her as Lucy strained to get a second difficult breath past her seizing throat.

"Oh shit, Luce. What the hell did you do to her, Lightning Rod?"

"Laxus sama saved her life, Natsu. The only way to outrun such a fast moving firestorm was to shift her into lightning, and get her out of the path of your combined attacks rippling outward where they connected and exploded. The first time being turned into lightning is never easy to handle because it defies description, but Lucy will be fine in a few minutes. Stay back so Laxus can draw the residual lightning magic out of her system to help Lucy recover faster." A harsh feminine voice berated Lucy's teammate.

Memories flashed as Lucy focused on breathing. Natsu was arguing with his father about how to control his dragon instincts. Igneel steadfastly told Natsu that he had to accept them without fail so that he could get them to work in his favor. Hearing Natsu's flat refusal to risk others disintegrated into violence as both lost their tempers and flung fire at each other. The two bursts of fire magic slammed into each other creating a blinding, explosive plume where the two super heated fire forces collided. A huge shearing blast of fire driven air and shattered rock was rolling toward Lucy at an impossible speed. Lucy was frozen by the overpowering, heated destructive force flying out of control when a hand planted on her shoulder, and her world was thrown into chaos as a weird, borderline, painful thrum ricocheted through her, knocking Lucy senseless.

"Why'd you electrocute Luce, Lightning Rod? You hurt her!" Natsu's voice rang with anger.

"Laxus sama used his lightning transformation to get Lucy san away from your deadly backfire alive! He didn't have time to warn her about having to force shift her body into his element. Laxus sama has used the same technique to save Ever and even myself a time or two on dangerous missions. At least he doesn't need to drop Lucy san a safe distance away with minimal lightning magic withdrawal so she can breathe before returning to finish off a dark guild. Even with minimal magic reclamation, the effects of the transformation pass within fifteen to twenty minutes." Freed's voice was almost as edgy as Evergreen's before him.

Evergreen's tirade helped Lucy regain much needed calm despite the uncontrollable numbness she felt. When she was a small girl, Lucy had gotten badly shocked and had enough presence of mind to recall the off putting hum that flashed through her body from an electrical jolt. Freed's input also helped Lucy recover because he was explaining what had happened to her in more detail. Learning that Laxus had experience with shifting other people into lightning was disconcerting, but also heartening for Lucy. It meant she could expect to fully recover from being shocked to the point that Lucy felt nothing except residual electricity inside her body.

"Look at all the damage you both caused because you can't control your tempers! The pool's beyond salvage and Master's going to have a heart attack and suspend all of us from missions because you and your dragon are both uncontrollable, walking demolition crews just waiting to happen." Evergreen shrieked.

Her ears were working fine, and after a couple blinks, Lucy's eyes began to function. The one thing Lucy saw was deep indigo cloth clinging to a very broad expanse of chiseled chest muscles that her cheek was resting against since she could not move. "Take it easy, Blondie. I've got you. Give me a chance to get you sorted out."

Blinking a few more times, Lucy noticed the quick static discharges rising into her vision field. Golden energy flared and skittered up the skin hugging fabric of Laxus shirt as sensation began to return to Lucy's awareness. Her nose was starting to work and the first thing Lucy smelled was a pleasant musk tinged spice as her lungs accepted air without difficulty. Warmth was beginning to become more obvious as was motion. Lucy was becoming aware of the subtle shift in Laxus muscles as he pulled his magic out of her system. The steady thumping of Laxus' heartbeat beneath Lucy's ear began to take on more definition as Lucy blocked out the ongoing argument surrounding them.

The numbness was falling away without the expected painful throb of reviving nerves clambering about previous abuse which Lucy expected to feel. Against Lucy's back, a strong arm and solid form braced her upper body to keep her sitting as Laxus acted the role of her chair. A few more blinks and Lucy realized she was able to move her head without too much difficulty so she looked down. Laxus was kneeling upon his other leg, her legs resting across his bent double leg as a temporary seat. Seeing Laxus shoe next to her limp right hand told Lucy that the majority of the hard object she leaned against was Laxus other leg, his knee acting as a backrest.

The muscular arm that remained free was pulling strands of electricity out of Lucy's legs as the rest of her body tingled and shifted into normal sensation ranges. Looking back up at the towering male who intimidated her through sheer size difference, Lucy saw Laxus brow furrowed with concentration. The last of the numbing effects slipped away as Lucy felt Laxus free hand settle onto her lower, outer thigh, above her knee.

"Better, Blondie?" Laxus asked as his expression shifted from the stern visage of total concentration to genuine concern as he looked into her eyes.

Without thought Lucy made eye contact, and was flooded with Laxus emotions, memory, and thoughts while she nodded an affirmative. The residual fear and fury that Laxus felt as he saw the spill over of extremely violent fire moved identically to a *pyroclastic blast* straight toward her frozen position rose to the forefront of Lucy's thoughts. Acting on instinct, Laxus shifted into lightning to get to her first, semi shifting his upper body into a solid enough form to scoop her up, and turned them both into a bolt of lightning in less time than it took to blink. With unbelievable speed Laxus moved them far enough out of the magical fire's path in less than a heartbeat's time.

Eyes widening, Lucy's heartbeat accelerated at how close she had come to getting fried into ashes instantly. Lucy whipped her head around to see that Natsu was beating on a rune wall as Freed and Evergreen stood with their hands on hips, glaring for all they were worth at her teammate. The fact that neither of the Thunder God Tribe members showed any indication that they would release Natsu from his cage soon spoke volumes of how upset the duo felt. It was with some surprise that Lucy realized Natsu was yelling inside the flaring rune barrier, but she heard nothing.

Igneel was hunkered down and looking morose over the accidental overflow. Lifting his head marginally, Igneel spoke. "Is the woman alright now?"

"She's fine no thanks to you two. I'm mad enough to fry you both over doing something that stupid and losing control over your magic, Dragon." Laxus voice rumbled with barely contained rage, his chest vibrating beneath Lucy's hand.

"I'm okay because of your quick thinking so there's nothing to be angry about, Laxus. It was an accident. Besides, you got to me in time, so thank you for saving me." Lucy tried to deflect the simmering rage she felt radiating from the very large man holding onto her so possessively.

His unmarred eyebrow cocked upward at a rakish angle as Laxus searched her face while heat suffuse Lucy's cheeks. Not being one to lie to herself, Lucy was struck by the reality that the Lightning Slayer was handsome in an overpowering, hard bodied and bulging muscles way. However, being caught within such bulging arms was somewhat distressing for Lucy. Due to having been reduced to genuine helplessness for most of her childhood by her father's stifling, power mad, money hungry tyranny, Lucy learned to hate feeling as if she was tiny and fragile. No matter how destructive Natsu's magic was, he was not much taller, or bigger than Lucy. Having a similar height meant Lucy did not feel like breakable glass whenever Natsu was around which let her feel secure.

Standing next to Laxus meant the top of Lucy's head did not quite reach the man's collar bones. To rest his chin on the top of Lucy's head meant Laxus would have to bend down because she was so much shorter, and smaller than him. The major intimidation factor with Laxus was how he left Lucy feeling like she was a tiny spun glass and porcelain doll that would break if Laxus moved wrong. Feeling secure around such a big bodied man was difficult, because it reminded Lucy of her own father towering over her while yelling at her right after her mother died. When the Fantasia disaster happened, Laxus had displayed an attitude that truly reminded Lucy of her father at his most arrogant. Memories of her father's frequent and loud rejections when she was little did not help Lucy's sudden up tick in nervous energy over sitting on Laxus.

'_I won't ever reject or purposely hurt you, and you know damned well that I've changed since then, Blondie.'_

'_Sorry. I guess some habits take time to get rid of, Laxus. Um, can I get off of your lap now, please?' _Lucy thought in return as she cringed over her previous wayward mental dialog which Laxus might have mentally overheard.

A soft rumble of amusement beneath Lucy's cheek was followed by several explicit images of what Laxus wanted to do with her. _'Nothing's going to drive me away from you, Lucy. You're going to have to get used to my height and accept that you are the perfect fit for me. We both had asshole fathers, so I can understand some of your fears. Although, you being afraid of disappointing or boring me is the funniest of your panic attacks so far.' _

Lucy tilted her head back to look up at her now laughing captor. Relief that Laxus had calmed down spread within Lucy's torso until her muscles relaxed. _'Laughing at me doesn't help your cause you know. After all, you have some very perverted memories and I'm not exactly sure what to make of those.'_

'_You really are a scared little Bunny Girl when it comes to me, aren't you, Blondie? Not like I'd consider anything too kinky before you got curious enough to ask,'_ Laxus smirked as he directed the amusement laced thoughts at Lucy who felt her mouth drop open.

"Oh, you're such an arrogant jerk at times, Twinkle Toes." Lucy grumbled quietly as she tried to break free without any success.

With a quiet hiss, Laxus tightened his hold and whispered in her ear. "Be still, Blondie. Do you have any idea what your wiggling does to me? I'm sure you'd think before doing something so delightful in my lap if you paid attention. At least try to have a little mercy on me since you can't seem to make up your mind."

Lucy dared not breathe as she froze in place. Laxus had better control over who saw what he thought compared to Lucy and he was not hiding the purely male reaction he felt. Icy waves traipsed behind hot flashes whipping through Lucy's torso as she closed her eyes and fell prey to mortification. Then again, Lucy was learning how perverted Laxus could get no matter what she did or did not do.

"Should we get Lucy san inside, Laxus Sama?" Freed broke Lucy from her rigid posture as Laxus loosened his hold. Taking the opportunity to escape, Lucy scrambled out of Laxus lap and nodded rapidly.

"Please set Natsu loose, freed. I think Laxus has done enough training with the dragon lacrima today." With those words, Lucy headed toward the back door of the guild.

Before Lucy could get the door open, Laxus was beside her, getting the door and wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. Seeing Vraylinish waving her closer, Lucy changed direction, Laxus allowing her to dictate where they were going. Lucy knew to expect the older woman's explanation about removing the chains that had almost killed her.

==oo0oo==

Loke shimmered into existence next to the Guild's front doors and sighed heavily before entering. A little over a week had passed since Lucy had awoken from the cursed sleep that almost killed her. The strain remained in Lucy's eyes as she dealt with being bound to two Dragon Slayers through the Lost Magic used upon her and the two men who had volunteered to keep her alive. Looking around to see if Lucy was in the main hall, Loke hoped to ignore the Ancients, especially their Sacred Saint and leader.

Loke refrained from clenching his fists when he saw his Princess sitting with the one person he most desired to avoid. Laxus and Natsu were sitting on either side of Lucy, hemming her in on the bench seat. The rest of their respective teams were also sitting near the trio, listening to whatever Vraylinish and a couple of her Elites were saying to them. Much as Loke wished to be immune to the Ancient woman's body covered in an earth toned, short sleeved shirt, and coffee colored pants, his eyes traitorously pinned his attention onto her curvy figure. Not quite voluptuous, Vraylinish was still a very nicely built woman by any man's standards. Vraylinish was also a ghost remnant of a shattered past that bothered Loke to recall.

The atmosphere around the two tables felt somewhat oppressive as Loke's feet moved him closer. Knowing that the Ancients were adamant that Lucy had to have the Astral Chains moved to protect her life, Loke could only assume they were now discussing the next few days plan to shift the non bloodline chains to the original blood line Star Singers that had been brought out of stasis. The fact that Rune Knights were scattered around the room did not go unnoticed by Loke as he closed on his destination. The Knights were an added security measure that the Fiore King had insisted upon keeping in place to guard Lucy and the newly awakened Star Singers who were the keys to preventing the Abyss Lord's resurrection.

Loke's jaw tried to lock as a burst of irritation swirled through his chest over observing that Laxus had an arm loosely wrapped around his Celestial Spirit Mage's shoulders. Things had been unbearably hard for Lucy recently, and Loke resented the dramatic changes Laxus was causing for the Zodiac's beloved Mistress. Natsu was not his normal reckless brawling self, and Lucy was downright depressed. It did not sit well with Loke that Lucy could barely carry on a meaningful conversation with any of her spirits at this point. It was Lucy's morose mood that angered Loke most. Although Lucy was physically healthy, her mind was another matter entirely.

"Princess, how are you feeling?" Loke asked as he stopped behind his Key Wielder without touching her.

To keep Lucy from suffering more than necessary, Loke was trying to keep his declarations of love ad adoration to a minimum since Laxus lost it and gotten territorial the second day that all three were awake. Seeing him get electrocuted back to the Spirit World, and Laxus refusing to be sorry for putting a stop to Loke's teasing on the grounds that he was harassing his key wielder had taken a toll on the Celestial Mage.

As expected, Laxus bristled visibly upon hearing his voice, Loke noted as Lucy turned her upper body to see him. "I'm fine, Loke. We were discussing how the Astral Chains will be moved to new people soon. I'll probably have to use Veil Chains to keep my magic under control according to Vraylinish."

Loke nodded while keeping a wary eye on Laxus. He and Laxus had already had one very violent altercation over who was allowed to touch Lucy, and how. To prevent Lucy any more despair by riling Laxus who had next to zero ability to rein in his jealousy, Loke had to refrain from giving into the impulse to hug her. Bickslow had also gotten a hard dose of Laxus anger because of making a wrong move, and saying the wrong things since the trio had awoken as Loke understood things. Learning that Laxus had an actual fossilized dragon brain chunk in his head explained a number of things. Most of the time, since the trio had awoken, was dedicated to Laxus learning to control the actual residual dragon instincts and thoughts overwhelming all three members of the Soul Binding.

"So when will the chains be removed?" Loke asked as he reluctantly looked to Vraylinish for an answer.

Vraylinish flicked her long curtain of medium umber and dark honey hair over her shoulder and looked up at Loke. "We plan to remove the first chain later today. We're discussing any possible side effects that Lucy and her two Bonds may experience once the first chain is gone."

The infamous half blood known as She-Wolf chuckled beside Vraylinish. Sherashta's multiple Soul Bonds sat on the bench directly behind her, all of them leaning their backs against their table as they listened in on the talk. "I was explaining what my four Soul Bonds and I have been dealing with as the seven chains we were feeding have been removed one at a time. Our energy has exploded now that three of the Astral Chains are gone. It seems that the Fiore Princess has experienced the same overflowing energy due to having her extra chains moved also."

Lucy flushed a deep mottled red and ducked her head to hide her face. "Guess I'll do a lot of cleaning to deal with the extra energy since Natsu lives in a pig pen. I'm sure getting his place cleaned up will take a couple of days hard work to help me get used to having so much more energy once the first Astral Chain is gone. You're suggested way of dealing with the excess energy isn't something I'm comfortable with trying out, Sherashta san."

Her Soul Bonds laughed alongside Sherashta as Laxus snorted while shaking his head at whatever advice Loke had missed. Loke's raised eyebrow greeted Natsu's heavy sigh. Whatever advice the She-Wolf had given Lucy and her Bonds was not taken well by the trio most affected it seemed. Considering the Ancients way of dealing with boredom and many other situations where physical action was optional involved recreational sex, Loke could well imagine the advice given. Unless there were pressing matters to attend, and the number of Bonds Sherashta kept happy, Loke understood Lucy's mortification over said advice.

As if to confirm Loke's thoughts, Laxus snapped at the Ancients sitting across from them. "Blondie's having a hard enough time dealing with everything that's happening to her, so your orgy solution isn't happening. I'd kill any man that tried to touch Blondie that way, so forget it. We need a viable alternative to deal with the excess energy you're telling us to expect."

Loke's fists clenched until he felt his nails tear into his palms while his molars popped against each other. "Princess was raised with a different morality code which makes your suggestion impossible for her to consider, She Wolf. Perhaps it would be wisest to use the excess energy boost during training in the mastery of some new spells, Princess?"

Vraylinish nodded with a small grin on her face. "I think that is an excellent plan, Loke. Learning to control the magical pressure and capacity explosion inherent with the drain's removal is necessary. Having four Bonds tends to give She-Wolf an advantage that Lucy does not have in the shared absorption of magical expansions she experiences with each chain we've removed. In fact, we can remove the Astral Chains much faster from her than we can from Lucy, or even this nation's Princess because two of Sherashta's Bonds are full blood Fairies. They have a much stronger absorption tolerance than humans do, and can stabilize their group easier."

Loke felt his face heating up as he looked to the side with his arms crossing over his chest. "It's my job to think of these things rationally. I'm the leader of the Zodiac because I understand that the best way to take advantage of this power surge is to teach Lucy more spells and get her used to moving her magic in new ways so that she can better protect herself in the future. Learning more spells is one way of insuring she can use up excessive magic without hurting herself or her new team."

"Team? What the hell, Dumb Ass? We're not some simple team change out since she's my mate." Laxus growled in response. "Speaking of which, we need to decide on living arrangements, Blondie. My place is the largest so it makes sense to move your things to my place."

Lucy let her forehead thump onto the table top next to her empty glass. "Do we have to have a talk about this right now? I'm still struggling to look you in the eyes without getting majorly embarrassed, Twinkle Toes."

"You aren't going back to your apartment alone and that's final! So suck it up because you're the most vulnerable of the Celestial Mages due to the number of chains you've been feeding. Even the Royal Family agrees that you have to be guarded at all times. You only get to leave here to visit your place if you have guards, so resign yourself to being surrounded by weakling strangers, or staying close to me and Flame Brain who you know." Laxus pointed out in steely toned words coupled with a glare.

Natsu shoved his empty plate to the side while shrugging. "If Luce wants to keep her apartment, I don't see any reason to force her to move. She's safe enough because we usually hang out at her place. It's our other hang out."

"Natsu's right, Laxus. Erza, Gray, Happy, and Natsu always hang out at my place. You're not going to want them in your home, so it's better for me to stay in my own apartment. Even if you're determined that I'm your mate, it doesn't mean I'll just let you run my life any way you please. I'm never going to be anyone's property ever again, and that includes you."

Erza was nodding her agreement as she spoke from the table beside Natsu. "We have already paid Lucy's rent for this month. Grey and I covered her monthly membership dues for the month as a way of apologizing for our failure to be there when Lucy most needed us. You may hit me in punishment for my failure, Lucy. I deserve your wrath for not understanding the amount of suffering you have endured because of my ignorance."

Loke fiddled with his glasses and cleared his throat as he forced down his laughter at the red head's little speech. It was obvious from Lucy's shifting posture that Erza had improved her mood as she sat up straighter while turning her head toward her other teammates. "None of us knew what was making our Princess ill, so it's not as if you or Grey could have figured out the problem, Erza. Still, I'm sure I speak for all the Spirits when I say we're relieved to know Princess won't be struggling with her finances this month since she already has plenty to adjust to because of the ancient curse. Thank you from all of us who love Lucy for your generous gift."

Erza nodded as her cheeks got pink. "We owe Lucy a great deal so it's only fair that we help her when she needs us. She is our dear friend and cherished sister. It is only proper to give our utmost for her. We need no thanks for doing our duty. Lucy's welfare and happiness is all the thanks we need."

Grey smirked. "We eat all her food and make plenty of messes so we don't mind pitching in to keep her place up. Making sure her bills are squared away this month isn't a big deal. Losing our hang out's another story though. It would suck if Lucy lost her pad because it's such a comfy place."

Aye, Sir!" Happy yelled as he dropped onto Lucy's head with a paw raised in the air. "Lucy always has the best fish."

"She sure does, Little Buddy." Natsu agreed with a big grin as he lifted a hand to pat the blue Exceed.

Laxus expression had gotten fiercer and angrier as Lucy's team talked about her apartment as if they all lived with her. Loke sensed the storm brewing beneath the surface with every word spoken in defense of Lucy keeping her place. It was not a surprise to Loke that the Lightning Slayer objected to Lucy living away from him. Dragon Slayers were very possessive once they decided they had a mate. Whether Lucy agreed or not was irrelevant to the dragon instincts all Slayers possessed. Laxus was going to cause even more upheaval before the day was through as far as Loke could tell.

"Like it or not, things are changing. My team's already made peace with the fact that Blondie's now a permanent part of my life, so you need to do the same. Until I'm certain she's safe, Blondie's staying with me. End of discussion." Laxus spoke in harsh, clipped tones that rubbed Loke wrong.

Freed spoke in a cautious tone, "Natsu kun will also have to move, Laxus Sama. This spell makes it painful to be too far apart for very long as you've already discovered while testing the limits."

"I'm aware, Freed. Since Igneel agrees with me about Ash Breath needing to learn better control of himself, I'm handling the job of controlling and also teaching him. It won't kill Natsu to learn a few rules either."

"I won't risk hurting Luce again. Letting my focus relax nearly got her killed this morning. It isn't an option, Lightning Rod."

"You can't control your Dragon Side because you fear it. The Dragon Lacrima in my head is just as unruly and hard to control, but I flat refuse to fear it. You're going to learn to do the same thing, Flame Thrower." Without raising his voice, Laxus managed to convey a ferocity that had Loke stepping back before he could recover.

As Laxus and Natsu glared at each other, Lucy heaved an explosive sigh while rubbing her temples. "Would both of you please stop fighting for a little while? I need to think about a few things."

"I'll help you get rid of the headache, Princess." Without hesitation Loke stepped forward and began to rub out the tension in his Princess's neck and shoulders starting behind her ears.

~~oo0oo~~

***For those not familiar with violent volcanic eruptions: A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of super heated gasses and shattered rock which reaches speeds of up to 700 km/h or 450 mph as they explode down a erupting volcano's side. The gasses and rock combination can reach temperatures of about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). In short, the temperatures can melt metal on contact.***


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Thanks to everyone following/faving this story, especially those who have also left me reviews. I appreciate every review which keeps me motivated to keep writing. I checked out the Fairy Tail Wiki site and discovered that the Guild was disbanded, so decided to incorporate a tweak starting with this chapter. Guess this story needs an "A.U." tag due to my lack of familiarity with the known manga verse. Anyway, here's a shorter than normal raw draft chapter for you guys to enjoy.

CHAPTER 22

The Rune Knights must be in Magnolia to reprimand Fairy Tail members for yet another string of unacceptable destruction zones due to jobs completed in Ikaruga's opinion. The number of Royal Guards within Magnolia's city limits simultaneously staggered Ikaruga's mind. As an elite assassin, Ikaruga prided herself for her intelligence, as the elite ranking was never bestowed upon fools. Evidence pointed to the King of Fiore being up to something very big, and had hired the most destructive guild in his nation to make it happen. Perhaps the King was calling in the rumored changes to Fairy Tail's reinstatement charter, and Ikaruga's team was watching the new deal taking place as they spied upon the Guild Hall to devise their final plan of attack.

Within a week of the war with Zeref's demons ending, Fairy Tail guild had disbanded, their last Hall wiped out during the Tartarus Guild's attack that almost destroyed Magnolia, and large sections of Hargeon, plus the obliteration of the previous Magic Council buildings, including all members of the actual council. Yet a document had been salvaged from the wreckage that ordered the Fairy Tail Guild to disband. Due to that final order, the Master had complied once the document was in his possession.

Without warning, Fiore's King rescinded the order of disbanding upon discovering new evidence proving Fairy Tail's innocence, coupled with their members' documented valor during the Demon War which saved countless citizens' lives, and kept Fiore on the world map. The rebuilding and reinstatement of the Guild began within a couple months, much to the newest Magic Council's dismay as they likewise were trying to rebuild their own stronghold.

Rumor had it that Fairy Tail had a specific mission clause added to their new charter that King Toma E Fiore personally drafted. However, nobody knew what kind of clause was added to the original Guild contract. None but the highest ranked members of the Guild, the newest Magic Council, and the Royal House were allowed to see the new Guild Charter. Vague details did nothing to help her team complete their job which kept Ikaruga furious. Her team was trying to fulfil the request Ikaruga had accepted, and they were being blocked at every turn by unfavorable circumstances that might be related to the reinstated Guild's new mission guidelines.

As Ikaruga looked in the hotel's bathroom mirror while pulling the second section of her pink hair up into it's customary matching bun beside the first, the calm looking woman seethed on the inside. All of Ikaruga's planning was worthless unless she could get her hands on Heartfilia and Aguria as was the main point of this particular mission.

With every detail Callista learned, the contract became more difficult to perform. What was once a simple assassination and recovery mission had become quite the unexpected nightmare that even a small army would be reluctant to undertake. Ikaruga had been forced to compile a report to for their employer detailing all the known factors including a potential secondary Dark Guild faction's interest in the Celestial Spirit Mages her employer also desired. As Death Head Caucus had courier outposts in almost every community throughout Fiore, and even within major ports of neighboring nations, the message would get to the employer without fail. All that was left for Ikaruga and her team was the time spent waiting for their occult leading employer's response.

Everything that was happening in Magnolia, specifically around the Fairy Tail Guild's building, threw her team's plans out the window. Between Callista's ongoing dreary reports, and Taka's impatience to leave the confines of his hotel room, Ikaruga was running out of options. The team was also running out of time to complete the bonus earning part of their mission given to her by the oddball religious fanatic they were working for at the moment. Granted, the crazy cult leader would only remove the bonus if she failed to get Heartfilia and Aquila to him within fifteen days, but Ikaruga hated to lose the extra bonus money since it would injure everyone's pride to fail.

Titus no longer needed to watch Heartfilia's apartment because the Celestial Spirit Mage was locked within the Guild's infirmary in some kind of coma from what Callista had learned during her spying sessions. It seemed the Celestial Spirit Mage was attacked and almost killed by someone else. All that Callista was able to uncover about the attack was that it was some unknown, but deadly, long range spell of great power. Realizing that they had competition to get their hands upon the Celestial Spirit Mages increased the difficulty of Ikaruga's own contract.

As Ikaruga mulled over the situation, she completed the final touches of her own nondescript clothing choice. Much as Ikaruga longed to wear her beloved white and red kimono, it stood out too much. Wearing a form fitting, movement friendly, yet demure commoner's dress that hid most of Ikaruga's skin was required. Mindful that standing out was not an option, Ikaruga chose a medium gray and pink patterned tea length dress with a smart looking business jacket for the day's spying duties. Ikaruga's makeup was complete.

Frustration that Aguria's presence at Fairy Tail Guild was anything but a stroke of good luck, due to the sheer number of Rune Knights, Royal Guards, and powerful mages shielding both Celestial Mages needed to be taken into account to devise a new plan. If not for the King of Fiore's arrival before Sabertooth's twin dragons and teammates, Ikaruga might have managed to get her hands on one of the Celestial Spirit Mages. However, the Royal Guards coupled with Magic Council's Rune Knights meant they needed a plan that utilized utmost caution. The only option was catching their targets alone.

Patience and monitoring were necessary to find weaknesses within the protection grid that was in place. Once the security forces relaxed and fell into a recognizable rhythm that reinforced sloppy guarding, Ikaruga and her team would strike and be gone like the wind. So far, the guards had not relaxed enough to show her team any attack points, but Ikaruga's long experience in assassinating important people told her it was only a matter of time.

The more important question to get answered was the sheer magical power unleashed a few days before, behind the Guild Hall. Such an obscene amount of power getting unleashed had scared all of Ikaruga's team badly. None of them knew the reason for such a powerful spell being cast, aside from it coinciding with the arrival of the Fiore King's entourage. Additional blasts of magic spells had happened before and after, at different levels of intensity on a daily schedule, always happening in the late afternoon. The ongoing magical spells requiring numerous participants kept Ikaruga's group abnormally edgy about what kind of work the Fiore Royals had Fairy Tail Guild doing on their behalf. More questions than answers were bandied about by Ikaruga's teammates over what was happening, and none of Callista's spy specific magical expertise helped provide enough concrete information.

Complicating matters even more was the presence of three living dragons hanging around the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, and taking part in working with the Mages involved in unleashing such powerful spells each day. Their presence made things more difficult for her team to kill Heartfilia's team so they could abduct the two women. So long as Ikaruga's team faced the possibility of real dragon interference, Ikaruga knew that their chances of success plummeted to near zero. A small part of Ikaruga's mind whispered that the 'Holy Lord' contracting her team's services had set them up for capture, or destruction. However, as crazy, and vile as the underground cult was, it was equally possible that their leader had not anticipated that he was not the only one obsessed with Celestial Spirit Mages.

Until the state of alert currently in place dropped several levels, her team would be committing suicide if they tried anything. Killing targets from the Guild Hall while in Magnolia ensured that they would be rounded up in a massive man hunt within a matter of hours. Abducting the two Celestial Mages would be met with a similar fate of quick capture and incarceration by the Rune Knights. If only one of them had transportation magic that allowed them to teleport elsewhere in a hurry, they could at least grab the two Celestial Mages.

Glancing at her new nodachi, Ikaruga's nose wrinkled and a snarl twisted her ruby lips. Erza Scarlet had nearly killed her when she worked for Jellal Fernandez, but Ikaruga held no resentment over her personal defeat. The only fury Ikaruga could not tame was over the loss of her previous and deeply revered nodachi, Mugetsu Ryu's loss. The loss of her magical infused great sword was the only thing Ikaruga could not forgive, nor forget.

True sacred Shrine swords were almost impossible to come by, and Mugetsu Ryu had been one of the most powerful ever forged. The dragon blade had killed countless real dragons for centuries before Ikaruga's birth. It was the blade wielded by real Dragon Lords for close to three centuries before being retired as an offering to the Gods. Mugetsu Ryu predated Zeref's own birth, and that made it a priceless artifact that could never be replicated.

Expression clearing as Ikaruga heard the coded knock on her hotel room door, she swept through the hotel room and opened the door a crack. Seeing Titus wearing his normal non rescript eath toned pants and off white long sleeved shirt, she opened the door and with a gracious sweep of her arm, bade the younger man enter. Closing the door, Ikaruga lifted a brow as she waited for her lithe partner to speak.

"Taka's wasn't in our room when I awoke." Titus grumbled.

"I see." Ikaruga's voice was soft as she contained her mounting irritation with her old teammate.

Most likely Taka would go to a bar and get so drunk that he'd not know where he was for at least three days if Ikaruga knew anything about her old teammate. Taka was quite capable of taking care of himself, and Ikaruga knew the arrogant man would not give away their location, or contract details if captured. Still, Taka's perchance for such stunts were the main reason that after their humiliation at the Tower of Heaven, Ikaruga chose to train younger, talented new partners and created a new team. Taka's habit of wandering off to amuse himself had caused a number of glitches over the years.

Ikaruga began shifting her plans in case Taka did not wander back to his hotel room within the next twenty four hours. She still had an annoying amount of near insurmountable roadblocks to overcome, yet Ikaruga was nothing if not resourceful. Her placid facade belied Ikaruga's inner calm no matter how nasty the situation. Failure was not an option, and Ikaruga had every intention of finding and killing Erza Scarlet for destroying her beloved holy sword. As if hearing her thoughts, Titus cleared his throat.

"I'm thinking, Titus."

"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that I got a message from our Guild. They said we should expect a messenger from our employer. Seems they got our message and are sending a courier to us who believes that he will be able to help us with our overwhelming number of adversaries."

An upward tug of her lips over the good news was Ikaruga's response to her younger partner's blank look. Cupping her chin, Ikaruga stared at nothing as she contemplated the best way to get Titania to fall into a trap to kill her without alerting the guild. The red headed warrior woman had arrived home the previous night, but Ikaruga had missed the opportunity to destroy the woman because of the large crowd at the train station platform.

Another knock on the door drew Ikaruga out of her thoughts. Recognizing the sequence Titus opened the door and Callista stepped into the room. "Looks like Heartfilia is awake. She was behind the guild with the dragons and a couple of th Slayers. One of the Slayers got into something of a sparring match with the one dragon. They almost roasted the Mage we're supposed to grab."

Ikaruga's smile vanished. If Heartfilia died, her contract would be ruined, and she would have to return the fifty thousand jewels. "What do you mean by saying they almost roasted Heartfilia?"

"Nothing to worry about, Seems Heartfilia's boyfriend has magic that allows him to move faster than two dragon roars colliding. He was really pissed off and even the dragon seemed pretty uneasy with how angry her boyfriend got." Callista answered with an impish grin as she flipped her wavy lavender hair out of her hazel eyes.

If not for how valuable her magical evasion and hiding skills were, Ikaruga would never put up with Callista's twisted humor. "Really? And did you happen to acquire a name for Heartfilia's boyfriend?"

"Seems that our target is attached to the one and only Laxus Dreyer, Boss. Also seems to me that they are a very new item based on how they were acting." Callista answered as she dropped onto one of the hotel beds and fluffed out her dark blue knee length dress so it would not wrinkle.

Dressed in such common clothing made it easy for her two partners to go unnoticed, and that was the thing Ikaruga liked most about her new team. Unlike Taka and Fukuro who insisted upon standing out in a crowd, Titus and Callista preferred to be ignored. Thinking about her earlier plans to get the Celestial Spirit Mages away from their companions, Ikaruga hummed without any real tune.

"I have a plan but it requires you both to create a little trap for me to spring. Sit down and I'll explain what we're going to do."

Getting rid of the most dangerous protectors that Heartfilia and Aquila had came first. Better yet Ikaruga was sure she had devised the perfect way to get said protectors, with their Celestial Mages away from the Guild's iron clad security. With looks of interest, Titus and Callista sat side by side and leaned closer as Ikaruga began to explain her plans.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Special thanks to Kerippi and WiseOldOwl for your reviews and staying in touch so consistently to encourage me. You two keep me motivated the most to continue writing. Now that I have new glasses, and can see without screaming agony hitting between my eyeballs after a couple hours work, perhaps I can get more chapters posted in under 6 or 7 days to make folks happy. Still don't own Fairy Tail cannon characters.

CHAPTER 23

Gajeel rocked back and forth upon his heels as he thought about everything that kept pulsing within his mind while watching the Ancients set up to cast the Astral Chain moving spell yet again. Having seen the difference in Sherashta's response to each of the chains she needed removed, and Fiore's Crown Princess's reaction to her extra chain getting removed validated Gajeel's belief that Lucy was far tougher than most mages. Princess Hisui had slept far longer, and awoke sobbing over the lingering soreness she experienced from having her single chain removed. It was proof that Lucy was far stronger than her second cousin in Gajeel's eyes. Lucy had taken far more damage, and was not whining about the pain that Gajeel suspected she was feeling every single day.

According to the Ancient Star Singers' Hisui was linked to the Chain of Perseus, a platinum key Spirit, alongside her bloodline Orion chain of the Spirit King. However, Sherashta had held both Royal chains, the Spirit Queen's as well as the third Spirit King chain. Queen Cassiopeia's chain had already been moved from Sherashta's soul to the proper bloodline Star Singer as the Royal chains were the most strenuous to maintain. Taurus, Cancer, and Gemini had also been moved from Sherashta's soul. The She Wolf continued holding several chains, but her Fey blood coupled with being part of a six person Soul Bonded group allowed her and her mates to manage the ongoing drain without half so much strain as Lucy was under. Now that so many Astral Chains had been removed, Sherashta was using magic more efficiently as were all her group. Sagittarius, Libra, Pisces, Aries, and Capricorn would be removed as time, and Sherashta's formidable endurance allowed. To date, Sherashta maintained a schedule consisting of having an Astral Chain removed every three days because she was stubborn, and tough enough to handle the constant ache she endured.

The total chains controlled by each remaining Star Singer class woman before the removals began had been eight total for the She Wolf, Five for Lucy, and two for the Fiore Princess. Yukino was the only living Celestial Spirit Mage with her appropriate bloodline chain, Ophiuchus. If any of the current Astral Chain holders were killed, it ws possible for the Abyss Lord to escape his confinement as Gajeel understood the situation. Even the King of Fiore was going above and beyond the call of duty to maintain very high level security for both Lucy and Sherashta the She Wolf.

Gajeel considered all he knew about the crawling paced progress made to safeguard the astral prison. The first half of the broken chain that belonged to Capricorn had snapped from Lucy's chest during the fight to save her during their skirmish with the Abyss Lord. Capricorn's broken chain links had recoiled onto Sherashta's other half sized chain to begin fusing into a single and solidified whole. Due to the recoil of his split Astral Chain reforming with Sherashta when she and her mates had left suspended animation, Capricorn was temporarily trapped in the Spirit World unless the Spirit King gave him direct help to move through his gate and shared power with him. The inability to summon a second spirit worried Lucy enough that Gajeel noticed her poorly hidden sorrow. The unexpected complication meant that Capricorn would be the last non bloodline chain removed from Sherashta so that her group could fully repair the actual Astral Chain first. Once fully repaired the goat headed spirit would again be able to move freely and maximize his power when in this world.

Spending time with Metalicana insured that Gajeel saw this specific routine several times as he subtly guarded the occupants of each spell cast. It had been a pleasant surprise to see Pantherlily get along with Metalicana during the two weeks that the wily dragon had been staying in Magnolia. Even as Gajeel monitored the activities nearby, Pantherlily perched upon the top of Metalicana's crown, also watching the bustling of the Ancient Mages getting ready.

Aware that the spell was instrumental to saving Bunny Girl's life, Gajeel had paid close attention each time it was used upon Sherashta, the She-Wolf. As a distant relative of Lucy's, although many generations removed, it was an eye opening lesson for Gajeel. Most of Lucy's ancestral bloodline seemed to be extremely tough, and had remained so over several millennia. Gajeel's adopted sister came from an exceptional family tree.

Although Sherashta still held several non blood related chains, it was Lucy's turn to get her first chain moved because of her soul's damaged status. According to the Star Singers who could determine which chains were attached to Lucy, she held the Orion, or Spirit King's bloodline specific, and Aquarius, also bloodline specific chains. Neither chain could be removed from Lucy's soul core. The other chains which had to be removed as soon as possible were the bloodlines of Scorpio, Virgo, and Leo respectively.

To improve the purity and strength of the magic Ring, Fiore's King was shipping the proper sized crystal composite stones to Fairy Tail's Guild, with the help of two of the Centaurs capable of sensing the correct frequencies needed to make a true honor ring. Five of the much smaller stones were being replaced with much taller crystal points this round. More crystals would be arriving each day as the two Ancients uncovered more powerful crystals needed to make a much stronger and secure ring to contain large quantities of magic. The remaining Centaurs were setting the newest shipment of crystals into place by removing the smaller originals so the larger crystals were interspersed among the much smaller stones from the emergency made honor ring where Shiv had been crippled.

Today the spell would be used upon the most precious family tie Gajeel had forged since joining Fairy Tail outside of his darling little Shrimp. Within a short time, the first of the extra non bloodline Astral Chains would be removed from Lucy and attached to the original bloodline descendent it was supposed to remain with for all eternity.

The Star Singer chosen to accept the first of Bunny Girl's three excess chains was a slender man with shoulder length, limp crimson hair, and sharp black eyes. An off white peasant's shirt and mahogany hued canvas breeches only seemed to make the man look gangly, since his broad shoulders seemed far more pronounced thanks to how baggy the untucked shirt looked. According to Vraylinish, the man was also a direct descendent of Lucy's Celestial Spirit, Scorpio.

"So Lark's the one taking on a chain this round." A deep, resonate voice with an odd accent spoke from the side of Gajeel's position.

Spinning on his heels to see who had spoken, Gajeel found himself facing Flint, the Ancient's only human Elite whose magic was called Dragon Mastery. The broad shouldered, towering warrior was wearing a thoughtful expression as he watched his companions set up within the ever changing Honor Ring. Gajeel was reminded of a massive brown bear because of how hairy the man's forearms and upper chest that was visible appeared. From what Gajeel had heard from the men that Makarov handpicked for the task of helping get the males of the Elite vanguard cleaned up, Flint was a walking carpet which was unheard of in this age. A thick, curly beard and wild hair partially obscured the man's face which increased the bear like appearance even more. Keen green eyes and a sharp beak of a nose stood out when the taller man looked his way. Like all the Ancients, Flint wore earth colored, serviceable clothing normally worn by farmers. Medium brown canvas pants, light colored peasant's shirt with a coffee colored vest only heightened the bear like appearance of the solemn Mage.

"So that's the man's name?" Gajeel asked in an offhanded tone as he studied the other Mage.

Sticking close to Levy while she helped to teach, and learn language with the Ancients had allowed Gajeel the chance to talk to Flint several times. Flint had struggled to explain his very rare magic. Dragon Mastery Magic was focused upon making dragons leave to prevent unneeded conflicts between the races. Unlike Dragon Slayers, Dragon Mastery Magic was not actually founded upon actual draconic powers wielded over specific elements. Dragon Masters used the complete opposite power of Dragon magic, or Dragon Slayers' magic. In essence, a Dragon Master could cancel out most types of Dragon magic, and a few Fairy Spells because it was a combination of many elements. Mages like Flint had the ability to nullify many elemental dragon attacks, and deflect others away from their position. The singular lack of a dominant element was what set Flint's power apart from all the known magics Gajeel had ever heard of in his lifetime.

As Flint explained his abilities, he had a shape shifting talent to alter his physical form to deal with the most determined dragons who remained in the air while attacking. It looked somewhat similar to a human hybrid with dragon and demon reminiscent features. The second form's enhanced power was the main reason why Flint's magical power was named Dragon Mastery. The second form was where the bulk of Flint's power came into use as the offensive end of his magical output. His shape shifted form gave him wings to do areal combat when needed, as well as a semi demonic yet scaly appearance not unlike Gajeel and his brethren's Dragon Force. Yet the most used power in Flint's arsenal was his ability to build a magical force field that made dragons feel anxious to the point they would retreat which did not require his second form to unlock.

The half breed of Braydon's Healer team, Kendren, was originally Flint's wife according to Shrimp. Kendren was Soul Bonded to Braydon and Embradia during an emergency to save her life when she was hit by a blast of the Abyss Lord's power which ripped a large chunk of her body from her. Flint was not part of the same soul sharing spell with the two Fairies. If anything, Flint was free of any attachments like those used on Bunny Girl, Sparky, and Flame Brain, but Gajeel had heard that Flint tolerated the pure blooded Fairies for his wife's welfare.

As if coming out of a mental stupor, Flint finally looked at him and nodded. "Yes. Lark's one of the most gifted Star Singers from the Scorpio Constellation Temple. His Grandsire sacrificed himself to seal away the Abyss Lord. Lark had seen four seasons at the time of his Grandsire's death. He's the second child among all his siblings. He's a quiet one so I wasn't surprised when he volunteered to become one of the Sleepers. Lark hated the pressure from his parents about taking over the mantle of the High Priest for his Temple. Because he wanted to avoid having to talk all the time, Lark jumped on the chance to be a spare."

"You know, I'm a bit surprised you're out here since you're woman's inside working to regrow that one woman's limbs since she got torn apart saving Bunny girl and her two Slayers." Gajeel responded.

"Vraylinish's orders. Both of this Star Singer's Soul Bonded use Dragon Powers so she wants me out here. Vray worries that the big pale haired one's not going to handle himself well once the chains are visible. Her damaged soul is going to make it hard enough to do their job without one of her soul mates losing their temper. He's got to be curbed if he can't contain his protective instincts long enough for the chain to get removed. Our leader expects that once his Star Singer wakes up and is okay, I won't be needed as the other chains to get moved."

"So you're supposed to give Laxus a panic attack to force him to leave if he tries to protect Bunny Girl?" Gajeel asked in a sarcastic tone.

Flint chuckled. "No. If either one of them tries to protect her which will only increase the danger to her life, I'll have to hold them down and prevent them both from hurling Dragon Magic. T'aint easy to see your Soul Bound going through a chain shifting even if the Singer's asleep. We learned that the hard way with She Wolf's blood thirsty pack mates. Vraylinish wants to avoid a second Raymord and Jamarion attack halfway through the spell."

Gajeel nodded in agreement. He and Metalicana were forced to fight with Raymord and Jamarion, the two most powerful males out of Sherashta's three male and two female harem. Lord Raymord was from the Sheemastra Royal branch of Fairies, as was Lady Isasham. Raymord meant 'protector of the way' which Raymord lived up to in all the wrong ways. The male had shown how truly terrifying the most powerful Darkling alive responded to what he considered a threat to himself.

Jamarion was a broad shouldered Fey with an almost equally dark personality. The half breed was a veteran demon killer, and had proven himself as big a handful as Laxus at his worst. Gajeel had learned that fact the hard way when he tried to contain the crazed man. As with most Fey, Jamarion's wings had been chopped off when he was young, a practice that made most Fey a bit insane if they survived the initial, cruel operation. Without Sherashta to curb them both, Raymord and Jamarion had proven as cruel as the worst Dark Guild mages.

Flint helped control the pair with his magical power deflection to keep everyone alive. Gajeel learned instant respect for Flint's overwhelming brute physical strength combined with agility in physical combat. Gajeel had gotten fleeting glances of Flint and Raymord's fight as he and Metalicana dealt with Jamarion. The dragons helped by using their size to hold the crazed Fairy and Fey males down until the spell was completed. Once liberated from the ring, they were allowed to go to their Alpha female to take charge of her care. Somehow they managed to contain the vicious tempered males until Sherashta took over after she awoke.

It was easy enough for Gajeel to see why the Ancients involved would desire a safety net in place before working with Bunny Girl. They were going to be dealing with Laxus and Natsu's potential adverse reaction to their alpha female going through the same painful process. Still, a fight with Laxus was not something Gajeel wanted to go through a second time. As possessive as Laxus was already getting toward Lucy, Gajeel saw the wisdom in having Flint on standby. Not only was Flint wielding a very useful counter magic, but he was also as large and powerful as Laxus in physical stature.

"Guess I'll deal with Salamander while you tackle our Lightning Rod from hell if they both lose it over Bunny Girl's twitching and crying even if she's out cold. Hope you can nullify both of their powers though. It'll make it easier on us both if they can't cast spells." Gajeel added.

"True. But, if I have to curb both of their magics, you're dragon magic will be curbed also. Your power being draconic would mean you'd have to enter my force field to handle one of them in a fight. I know when I use much power, Sertatsie finds herself getting sleepy, and feeling drained." Flint answered as he tugged on his chest covering, bushy beard.

Gajeel grunted as he looked up at his dragon father. "Could always ask Salamander's dad to keep him under control. I'm sure my dad would also do the job if needed. That leaves Laxus to deal with if he can't handle seeing Bunny Girl's soul resurface so they can remove one of the chains."

"Laxus? That's the name of the big, pale haired man that's about my size, is it?" Flint asked as he stared up at Metalicana as if trying to decide whether or not the dragons would have to intervene.

"Yeah, I call him Sparky or Lightning Rod because he's a Lightning Dragon Slayer, and a second generation. He's also an S class Mage which means Laxus is very powerful. During the Grand Magic Games, Laxus went up against one of the Wizard Saints and won. The one serious fight Salamander and I had with Laxus, we both took one hell of a beating while bringing him down." Gajeel admitted the last with a sour twist of his mouth.

Flint hummed as he tugged on his beard some more. "I shall keep your words in mind since I saw how strong you are when you helped control Jamarion. It may be prudent to shape shift so that I can contain your Laxus easier if he does panic. He may prove difficult to control otherwise. None of your dragons are attached to Laxus as I understand things. Having them intervene could actually make things worse."

Metalicana leaned his head over Gajeel's shoulder without warning. "The artificial Slayer is controllable should he panic because of his Mate's cries. Let Igneel deal with his brat, and I'll claw cage the Alpha Lightning Slayer if he does panic. My mix of metal manipulation powers affords me more immunity to Laxus' lightning than my fledgling has at his disposal. Gajeel can only harness iron while I can alter my feet and claws to non conductive metals at will."

Flint chuckled. "Good to know. Still, we want to prevent friction between everyone whenever possible. If we thought we could keep them all asleep, we'd do so gladly. Only problem is that they can access the Linked World and their power would flow through their Singer's body as an attack as a secondary instinctive defense of her."

Gajeel was surprised by that information. He had little understanding of what was done to his three guild mates, but each new piece of information added to his comprehension. It sounded as if there was an ability to use each others magic involved. Whatever the linked world was, Gajeel thought it had to be similar to a magical expansion sphere.

"Is that why your group keeps saying that Flame Thrower and Lightning Rod won't kill each other over Bunny Girl?"

Metalicana answered. "The shared soul pieces that get switched to the others involved fogs the ability to view each other as a threat at the instinct level. Your chosen sister is strong within her own convictions so that also hinders their dragon instinct to fight over her."

Gajeel grunted to acknowledge his father's commentary. Overall, Gajeel did agree with Metalicana's assessment of Lucy's personality. The feisty woman had forgiven him for outright torturing her after only a few short weeks of his joining the Fairy Tail Guild. Unlike others, Lucy had actively tried to get to know Gajeel while he was still seeking to prove he could be loyal to his new guild. Nonetheless, Gajeel also resented the fact that his sister was not given any choice in whom she was bound to for the rest of her life. The way things were now, Lucy had no guarantee of happiness that Gajeel could see.

The sound of the back door opening had Gajeel's head turning to see who was coming out. Vraylinish was followed by Lucy, with Laxus hard on her heels, a thoughtful scowl on his face. Natsu trailed behind looking lost as usual. Gajeel could not refrain from smirking at the Fire Dragon Slayer's fluctuating expressions. Bringing up the rear of the small group was Sherashta and Braydon with his Fairy female mate who's name escaped Gajeel.

It did not escape Gajeel's notice that Igneel retreated several feet when he saw Laxus. The red dragon was still embarrassed about the early morning's loss of control which almost got Lucy incinerated. Natsu's annoying behavior pushed Igneel to unleash his anger over his son's constant interruptions during the dragon's attempt to teach Laxus how to control the sentience holding gem implant.

Even Metalicana felt an inclination to slap Natsu with his tail due to the younger man's lack of self control, or anything remotely like manners. According to Igneel, Natsu was not raised to be so obnoxious when the Fire King discussed the problem with Metalicana in front of Gajeel right after the incident concluded. Metalicana felt that Laxus needed control over their counterpart's fossilized brain chunk, so asked if they could ban Natsu from future work with Laxus. The three dragons had unanimously decided that it was for the best if Natsu was not present for future lessons.

Gajeel anticipated watching how fast Laxus agreed to the new arrangement, while Natsu sulked over being excluded. It almost cheered Gajeel since it would mean that he could enjoy seeing Salamander punished for his most revolting behaviors. Watching as Laxus stopped Natsu from following Lucy, Gajeel hoped that the pair would back away from the Honor Ring. If Natsu remained too close they both could be tempted to cause trouble.

Laxus clamped his hand around Natsu's neck and force walked him over to stand next to Flint and himself. Gajeel nodded to the other men as they stopped in front of him. "You guys understand what their going to do in a few?"

Laxus nodded. "I've been warned about what to expect. This idiot doesn't understand anything that was said which is no surprise."

"Hey, stop calling me an idiot, Laxus! I'm worried about Luce." Natsu whined in a childish sounding voice.

"So am I. Unlike you, I paid attention to the explanation and asked questions of the other Singer who's undergone this spell." Laxus snapped in return, his arms folding across his chest while glaring at the younger Slayer.

"So why doesn't any of it make any sense then?" Natsu huffed.

With a heavy sigh, Laxus responded, "If you want Blondie to survive, she has to have this done. You're already complaining that you're having trouble using your magic. None of us are able to do spells at normal strength so long as those chains stay on Blondie. So shut up and stay out of their way, Idiot."

"Fine. I'm going to talk to my dad." Natsu grumbled and headed toward his father's position, as Igneel lounged in the sunshine.

With a smirk, Gajeel watched the dejected younger man walking to his adopted parent's side. "Wonder if he's going to start another fight with his father or not?"

"I certainly hope not. Igneel knows how important this is, so I'm sure he'll put his brat in a claw cage if the fool tries anything." Metalicana growled.

"Either way, I just want this over and done with as soon as possible so I can get Blondie home where she can rest." Laxus spoke with a hard edged tone as he stood ramrod straight while watching his mate take her place inside the Honor Ring.

"Never fear. It won't be long now. Once your mate's asleep so she won't feel near as much pain, the rite will begin." Flint assured an unhappy looking Laxus.

~~oo0oo~~


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Glad people enjoyed the last chapter who were generous enough to send me reviews. I'm very grateful to you guys. Yes, I know I ended on a cliff hanger. Time for the long promised answers to some questions as several dangling threads star getting woven together.

CHAPTER 24

Feeling the tension radiating off of Laxus in dense waves kept Gajeel fighting an incessant urge to fidget. As Lucy and Lark were put to sleep by Braydon and his Fairy mate, Laxus tensed even more. A glance at Flint, who gave a tiny nod, told Gajeel that the Ancient felt the restless energy vibrating from Laxus as the Lightning Dragon Slayer's eyes darted everywhere. One thing that Gajeel noticed was the frequency in which Laxus glanced toward Igneel and Natsu. Everything about the Lightning Mage screamed that Laxus was ready for trouble. It was possible that Laxus was watching the Fire Slayer's interaction with his Dragon father in order to keep Natsu out of trouble. Then again, it was equally possible that Laxus would shout for Natsu's help if Lucy cried out as Sherashta had with each chain she had gotten removed despite being unconscious during the procedure.

Gajeel was beginning to think Laxus had already decided who was going to feel his wrath and Gajeel hoped it would not specifically be himself. Having fought with the Thunder God once was enough for Gajeel to realize it would take a Dragon Slayer team effort to bring the man under control, the same as the last time. Gajeel did not feel confident in Flint's abilities beyond what he had seen in the previous fight with his own people which had not nullified Gajeel or Metalicana's abilities as Flint claimed he could. Agile for his huge size would not necessarily insure that Flint won a victory against Laxus even in an all out brawl. Even if Flint had a second form, Gajeel had never seen it so could not judge how much stronger that form made the Ancient Elite warrior when it came to dealing with one of the toughest mages Fairy Tail had to offer.

Considering Natsu's bad habits, perhaps Laxus was worried about Natsu causing another fight with his Dragon parent which could spill an inferno into the Honor Ring and cause deadly harm to the Celestial Mage. The possibility of another fire magic explosion rolling out of control would be grounds for Laxus to remain tense. Natsu's earlier tantrum had almost incinerated Lucy so Gajeel hoped the huge blond Slayer was tense due to retaining his anger against Natsu's earlier stupid stunt.

Another possibility for why Laxus was so tense was his having been in the Honor Ring when his ability to make life choices were tampered with by Shiv. Gajeel found himself wondering whether Laxus was having some kind of instinctual reaction to a deep rooted memory that left Laxus coiled as tight as an over tightly wound metal spring. Even though Laxus had not complained about anything it must be stressful to know his full will over making decisions had been taken away by a stranger. Worry about the woman he was bound to could also be the trigger to set Laxus off since his life was as much on the line as Lucy's and Gajeel knew it. How that spell worked was beyond Gajeel, but so far Laxus and Natsu had avoided a deadly fight so the pathway tampering by Shiv seemed to be working as intended in spite of messing up the Slayers' lives.

Hearing the opening sing song chant of the barrier spell starting, Gajeel turned his head toward the Honor Ring. Unlike the barrier spell used before tampering with people's lives, only four mages were needed to erect this kind of barrier. The mages in charge of moving the Astral Chains were standing around their intended targets inside the ring, each taking a specific direction while the targets lay side by side, between the mages who would cast the chain altering spells.

Gajeel was familiar with each Mage's duties after having seen the spell series cast several times. The first mage would reveal the invisible Astral Chains in their distinctive Constellation colors. The second mage would pull both Star Singer soul cores to the surface so that the right chain could be detached. The third had the job of unhooking the predetermined Astral Chain from Lucy's soul core, and moving it to the other Star Singer's soul core. The fourth mage would keep both mages' life force stable throughout the process. With Lucy's soul being in such poor shape, Braydon and his Fairy counterpart were acting as the single Mage to stabilize Lucy's soul. The fact that Vraylinish had the strongest healers from her Elite ranks involved was a testament to how cautious the Sacred Saint was being with Lucy's health.

With the barrier fully in place, the delicate magical rites began. The first two mages began their magical incantations to reveal the Astral Chains by their constellation colors, and pull the pair's soul cores to the surface of their physical forms as a single action. As Lucy's soul core became visible, including the odd bar where the chains were attached, visible cracks cris-crossed Lucy's glowing embodiment of existence. The male's soul was without blemish as it glowed without any rough edges, or dark veins that announced spiritual damage.

Watching Laxus from the corner of his eye, Gajeel suppressed a shudder at the traces of lightning suddenly shimmering around Laxus arms and torso. The thin lipped intensity on Laxus face spoke volumes of how hard Laxus was fighting to remain still. The larger man's hands were balled into fists as he watched the spell unfolding in quick darting glances. It was too soon to relax Gajeel realized as Laxus was probably only maintaining his self control by a thread. Gajeel reminded himself that the greatest danger was from Lucy's unwitting Soul Bonded duo as Laxus again cast a glance around the area.

Without warning, Natsu bellowed in pain and anger. Whipping his head toward the shout, Gajeel realized Natsu was racing toward the barrier using his fire shooting beneath his feet to increase his speed, a look of fury distorting his features. Before Gajeel or Flint could react to the hyper speed charge, Laxus was moving faster than they could comprehend. As the pair recovered enough to shoot forward intent upon intercepting the pair of Dragon Slayers before they could hit the barrier and attack anyone, Laxus took control of the battle. Flashing back into solid form, Laxus caught Natsu and slammed him into the dirt hard enough to create a small concave within the cracking ground.

Growling with a chest deep, feral edged tone that allowed no room for argument, Laxus commanded, "Stop it, Idiot!"

Natsu snarled as he twisted free of Laxus and rolled into a crouch. "I'm going to protect Luce! She needs me!"

On the heels of his declaration, Natsu showed every indication that he was going to unleash a Fire Dragon's Roar. Using his superior speed, Laxus slammed a lightning coated fist into Natsu's mid-torso, effectively knocking the oxygen from Natsu's lungs. The diaphragm's momentary quivering in shock was effective in foiling the attack's launch. The smaller Slayer flew backward, twisting midair to get his legs underneath himself. Landing on his hands and feet, Natsu unleashed an animalistic snarl, incisors elongating as instincts overloaded all vestiges of thought Natsu normally had.

Gajeel skidded to a stop as he watched Laxus face off with Natsu. Flint shook his head beside him, with an arm held out to signal that they should wait to see what was going to happen next. Even Metalicana moved into a ready for action posture, but made no move to intervene. Igneel sidled to the other side, also prepared to intervene, yet waiting for whatever sign the Fire King deemed was necessary before taking action. Dread began roiling in Gajeel's gut that the various spells and bonds designed to keep the two Slayers from killing each other over who got Bunny Girl had failed at the worst possible moment.

"Stay focused on guarding the Honor Ring, Gajeel. You're job is to protect the mages working on Blondie. My job is to handle this pain in the ass who's lost all control of his dragon instincts. I'll knock him back to his senses, and keep him from interfering. Protect Lucy if you honestly think of her as a sister the way I think you do."

Stunned speechless, Gajeel felt his mouth drop open. The fact that Laxus seemed to be giving him the job of protecting Lucy was unexpected. A Dragon's instinct did not allow them to consider another male safe enough to protect a potential mate from harm. All males were viewed as dangerous, but Laxus was telling him to insure nothing happened to the barrier mages so no stray magic could taint the spell happening inside the Honor Ring.

As if to prod Gajeel into trusting his intentions, Laxus roared at Natsu. "Calm down and suck it up, Flame Brain! Interfering now will kill Blondie. We don't want that so you've got to control your instincts! The Chains have to come off her no matter how much it hurts all of us while it's happening."

Unable to understand Laxus words, Natsu launched himself toward the closest barrier mage. With a snort of disgust, Laxus intercepted the fast moving Slayer's trajectory, grabbing Natsu's arm and flinging him much farther from the Honor Ring. Hitting the ground hard, Natsu rolled and twisted. Getting back onto his feet cat quick, a wild beast's yowl erupted from Natsu's mouth.

Hearing the inarticulate scream filled with pain sent icy blades skittering down Gajeel's spine as he moved to place himself between the Barrier Mages and the fight unfolding before his eyes. Although Sherashta's males had not made such animalistic, pain wracked noise, Gajeel knew that all parties attached by Soul Binding suffered when the Astral Chains were removed from the main bearer. As he had seen the pain flit across Sherashta's mates' faces, Gajeel had accepted that pain was part of the process which could not be stopped.

Seeing how completely overloaded and lost within animal instinct that Natsu was driven because of the spell, Gajeel marveled that Laxus was not likewise reduced to an instinctual blood rage. Losing control over one's magic as Natsu had made everything far more dangerous for all parties in Gajeel's opinion. Seeing the way Laxus sought to control Natsu's rampage without doing too much physical damage despite having to be under equal distress strengthened Gajeel's respect for the Lightning Mage.

Hearing the back door crash against the wall, Gajeel risked a glance back toward the Guild Hall. Makarov, Erza, Gray, and the Thunder God Tribe poured out of the Guild, along with other mages who must have heard the commotion. Flint stepped forward and shifted his head toward the fast exiting mages as a prompt for Gajeel to run interference. Before Gajeel could process what to say, Metalicana moved his bulk to block a livid looking Erza, exquipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor with extra swords floating around her body.

"So they are fighting to the death after all. I'll break their fight up. Get ready to confine them in rune cages, Freed, Levy." Erza barked as she stepped as if to go around Metalicana's bulky body.

Metalicana hardened his scales to their hardest metal based form, and snarled at the rapidly forming audience. "Stay out of this, little Mages. Igneel's brat has lost his wits to his dragon instincts. His Alpha must make him obey. Natsu must be forced to bare neck, or there will never be any peace within their forming Exaltation. Have faith in his Alpha gaining control over him. It is the only way to curb his instincts."

Startled by his father's words, Gajeel watched the fast moving fight unfolding before his eyes with a small sense of hope blooming in his heart. So long as Laxus was in control of his instincts, there was every chance that Metalicana was right about this being an easily ended struggle for dominance within their coerced family unit. The dominant male would win, and that would be the end of their worries about the shared mate problem that had everyone afraid of Laxus and Natsu fighting to the death. Much as it bothered him to admit it, Gajeel knew that Laxus was far more mature than Natsu. Laxus therefore was better prepared to do what was needed to make Lucy happy although she would be angry for some time about losing her ability to choose her own mate.

Paying closer attention to the high speed battle tearing chunks of earth from the ground, Gajeel saw Laxus drop into a crouch, balanced on the balls of his feet to counter Natsu's next move no matter which direction Natsu moved. Lunging forward with fire flowing down his arms, Natsu charged Laxus in another attempt to break through his opposition to get to Lucy. An upswept twist of Laxus mouth was the only indication that Laxus believed he could stop Natsu's blind rampaging.

Flashing into lightning form to block Natsu's path, Laxus reformed, pulling back one lightning coated arm while wrapping his other large hand around Natsu's out flung flame coated forearm as the blow swept past Laxus head. With an instantly braced stance, Laxus twisted his torso, yanking Natsu down and to the side while discharging a wave of electricity into Natsu's body to stun him. The current flashed through the Fire Dragon Slayer's body making him twitch and howl as he was embedded face first into the already broken earth.

"Stay down!" Laxus snarled as he dropped his knee into Natsu's back to prevent him from escaping the hole created by the hard impact.

Fire erupted around Natsu's body in response to being physically restrained. Laxus did not release his hold on Natsu's wrist despite getting burned. Instead, Laxus increased the pressure of his hold, forcing Natsu's arm into a painful position to make Natsu comply with his directive while increasing the amount of lightning shunted into Natsu's body. Growling and snarling like a beast, Natsu tried to break Laxus hold by writhing, twisting, and flailing with both his legs and free arm.

Seeing a brilliant orange glow flashing across Laxus face as his head shifted, Gajeel noted that Laxus' Slayer magic had altered his eye color far more than normal. Laxus eyes always shifted from a stormy blue Gray to orange when he activated his deeper magic, but this was an all together new intensity of the unusual color. The thing that made Gajeel step back was noticing how the new burnt orange hue was far brighter than Gajeel had ever seen it whenever Laxus unleashed his Dragon Slayer's power in the past. A new, impossibly strong internal yellow light was rippling within Laxus' right eye. Seeing the deeper orange and yellow swirling within the eye fused with his Lightning Dragon Lacrima disturbed Gajeel. The orange and yellow power was shining so bright that Gajeel wondered if it would blind Laxus permanently as the two colors flowed outward in a stream of raw power that seemed to focus like a laser on the back of Natsu's skull.

The harder Natsu squirmed and railed in animalistic shrieks and screams, the more Laxus pushed his knee into Natsu's spine. With one arm locked behind his back, Natsu could do nothing more than try to burn Laxus off, but the Lightning Slayer merely increased the amount of electricity discharging into the smaller man's body. With his free hand, Laxus grabbed the back of Natsu's neck and forced his face to the side so that Natsu had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

"You will yield, Natsu! I'm done with this damned temper tantrum of yours!" Laxus barked in an oddly power laced voice that sent unease hurtling through Gajeel's guts.

Never having seen Laxus looking this focused before, Gajeel wondered if he and Natsu had won the Battle of the Fairies simply because Fairy Law failed. Recalling the lack of reaction had thrown Laxus' emotions off, Gajeel realized that it had played into his and Salamander's favor more than they had realized. Perhaps the shock been enough to prevent Laxus from recovering in time to rally his full strength during their previous all out battle.

As if something in Laxus expression had finally gotten through to the struggling Natsu's rage fogged mind, or he had simply been shocked into submission, the Fire Dragon Slayer went limp. Immediately, Laxus drew his power back into himself and glared at the sullen figure he was restraining. Laxus did not lose the tension in his muscles as he watched his fellow Slayer's body language closely.

"Are you going to listen to me now?"

"Not like I have any choice, Asshole." Natsu's anger roughened voice snapped.

"We should be helping Blondie by taking on her pain instead of fighting each other, Dumb Ass. Losing control of your instincts can't protect her. Losing it like you are will get her killed with this much magic in the air. If those chains stay on her, she's going to die no matter how much we shore her life force up, and you have to accept that fact. We can't stop the Astral Chains killing Lucy unless we let them remove the chains. Do you understand, Natsu?"

A deep growl rent the air as Natsu tensed as if preparing to put up another fight. Time seemed to drag so slowly that Gajeel could barely stand the unbearable tension thrumming in the air. Laxus glared down at Natsu, outright daring the Fire Mage to make a wrong move while his eyes glowed a feral orange and golden yellow combination. Even the triad of dragons seemed to be holding their breath to see if Natsu would push Laxus into delivering a far more brutal beating to get the point across.

Instead, Natsu huffed and grumbled. "Fine. Just get off me already because I can barely breathe."

Eyes narrowing, Laxus studied Natsu's posture as the seconds ticked by while everyone waited to see what would happen next. "I'll get off you when you realize that I'm in charge. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you continue acting like a loose cannon, Dumb Ass. You're going to listen from now on because you lack self control. Since I can't trust you because I can tell what you're thinking, I'll keep you down until you get it through your thick skull that you can't win a fight against me and decide to yield, Flame breath."

More snarls of incoherent, beastly rage escaped Natsu's mouth as the Salamander tried everything he could think of to throw Laxus off his back. Nothing the smaller Slayer did budged Laxus who looked disgusted and bored by the younger man's increasingly desperate antics than anything. It became obvious to Gajeel that Laxus was waiting for Natsu to wear himself out. The Mages inside the Honor Ring completed their spell casting and called to the Barrier holders to release the shield around the ring.

If not for his enhanced hearing Gajeel would have missed Natsu's subdued voice when he finally capitulated. "You win, Laxus. I give up. What do you want from me?"

"Trust me to help you because I'm not your enemy, or trying to take Lucy away from you. It won't kill you to make a few changes in your behavior that will make getting along with everyone a lot easier in the future either. I'll help you find the key to controlling your instincts, but you're going to have to trust me plus do some serious training so we can make it happen, Natsu." Laxus kept his voice a soft as Natsu's grudging and tired voice.

After speaking, Laxus rose to his feet and pulled Natsu back onto his feet in one smooth motion. Natsu stood with his head hanging as he stared at the ground, shoulders slumped. Laxus clapped a hand on the shorter man's shoulder with a soft 'tsk' and fond if exasperated expression on his face.

The tension in the air evaporated as the dragons all relaxed visibly. Flint was chuckling when Gajeel glanced over at the big bearded warrior. "Twas a fine fight. I ken see why you was nervous about your big Slayer losing his mind and causing trouble. Seems he gots his self a good head on them shoulders me thinks."

Gajeel suppressed the desire to roll his eyes at the brawny bear of a man. "At least we didn't have to do anything to stop Salamander. He can be a real pain in the ass."

Metalicana rumbled with amusement. "When protecting what is important, Alphas don't lose, Fledgling. Keep that in mind in the future. At least the Exaltation's Alpha is now established, so there will be a lot less friction for your adopted sister to live with now."

Gajeel felt his eyes widen as he watched Laxus stride past him with a head nod and step between the stones. With equally fluid grace, Laxus bent down and scooped up Lucy's sleeping body protectively in his arms. A still subdued Natsu stayed close to Laxus heels as the pair pushed past their guild mates with the help of the Thunder God Tribe who began shooing all the onlookers out of the way. The trio went inside the Guild Hall, most likely to take Bunny Girl back to the infirmary Gajeel realized as he tried to understand the abrupt change in Natsu's behavior. Something was going to change dramatically, and Gajeel felt iron clad certainty tighten his guts. Somehow the fight between Laxus and Natsu was going to change the guild in more ways than Gajeel could guess. How big the changes would be was the only thing left to be seen.

~~oo0oo~~


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: [Brackets ancient tongue.]

Sorry for not getting the adult revision up at adult fan fiction org. Updating here once or twice a week cramps what little time I have. Changing posted chapters, plus writing "missing chapters" for AFF's version takes time. I've made a tentative mid to late April 2015 goal to begin posting the finalized, expanded draft to AFF. Please be patient as I juggle multiple responsibilities as fast as I humanly can.

CHAPTER 25

Loke sat with a beer before him, watching and listening to everyone inside the Guild while Lucy was getting her first chain removed. Unable to stomach seeing his beloved owner tormented, even if it was necessary, Loke chose to keep an eye upon the mages he least trusted within the guild hall, so was on the ground floor monitoring the Ancients first and foremost. Nothing could convince Loke to trust the pure blooded Fairies who had shackled his owner with two irritating Dragon Slayers. The Feys, and Centaurs were not an issue to Loke even if they were Fairy companions. Some Fey members were more trustworthy than others in Loke's eyes, depending upon their attachments to the devious species, or better, lack thereof. Fear of the possibility that the Fairies would do even more insensitive things to Loke's guild mates kept him edgy. Loke blamed the Fairies for the misery that Lucy felt because of the vile spell used upon her, and nothing would change Loke's mind about seeking revenge at the first opportunity.

Having better hearing than any human, Loke eavesdropped on the conversations swirling among his guild mates sitting in the upper level. Loke thought Makarov overly cautious as he segregated the majority of the original guild upstairs until they stopped being angry with the Ancients over Lucy, Laxus, and Natsu. Hearing everyone arguing over the trio's fate was becoming routine. Yet Loke found himself reluctant to share in the most prominent topic about his owner, Laxus, and Natsu's future now that they were coerced into Soul Bind status. The most bandied topic was which man Lucy would choose as her husband. The thought depressed Loke as he felt neither man was good enough for his key owner. A constant stream of dates and places for a wedding continued to dominate all discussions since the trio first awoke.

Although Makarov and Vraylinish explained how Soul Bind magic worked, the bulk of Fairy Tail's guild members flat refused to accept the facts. Most discredited how invasive the spell was at every turn so that it fit more comfortingly within modern values. Ongoing debates about who Lucy would choose remained the hottest topic upstairs much to Loke's disgust. Neither Lucy, nor the two men she was bound to by the spell had any real say in their future. In the end, Lucy could not choose one over the other, and random situations would forever dictate everything they experienced. Either way, Lucy was going to suffer a lifetime of tarnished reputation troubles thanks to the Fairies binding her to both Slayers. Modern customs frowned upon multiple spouses, and the spell's unchangeable consequences were being ignored by everyone within the Guild's walls.

Distinguishing speakers was easy enough for Loke as he had memorized everyone's vocal inflections when he was posing as a human for three years. When not listening in on the Ancients conversations with Levy, Loke focused on the upper level to determine who was saying what about everyone's favorite topic, Lucy Heartfilia being caught within a love triangle she had not chosen.

"Kind of wish I was the one stuck with Lucy chan even if the spell is said to be dangerous to your health. She's a total babe so I wouldn't mind waking up with her in my bed every morning." Loke's nose wrinkled as he recognized Wakaba's voice. Macao chuckled and agreed. The two lechers were not important enough to listen to any longer. Loke shifted his hearing to filter through the noises of the guild's activities above his head.

"So who do you think Lucy's going to lose her virginity to now that she's got two hot men for the rest of her life to play with whenever she wants?" Cana's drunken question had Loke rolling his eyes and gritting his teeth.

Loke could not quite prevent the low feline growl that erupted over the unwitting insult. The way Cana had phrased her question made Lucy sound like a whore in Loke's opinion. Loke knew that Lucy was anything but a whore variety personality because she valued her independence and honor.

Wan, Elfman, and Joey proclaimed Laxus would get Lucy within a couple weeks since he was the Guild's top playboy with experience to spare. Having likewise been a playboy during his centuries of living, and seeing how easily Lucy fended him off had Loke smirking about how naive his guild mates were when it came to Lucy's strength. If he could not get into Lucy's pants despite having a far greater amount of sexual conquests to his name, there was not way Loke could see Laxus winning with classic one night stand tactics were things normal.

Others, like Vegeeter, and Reeds, said they thought Lucy's long standing relationship with Natsu meant she would choose him once their wedding took place. Despite his irritation with the debate, Loke was mollified somewhat by Vegeeter's team standing up for Lucy's reputation. If not for the Soul Binding spell, Loke knew they would have been correct.

Disgusted that actual bets were being made by some of Lucy's friends and guild mates over losing her virginity, Loke felt another low growl escape his throat. To Loke, it was a blatant case of disrespect toward his beloved mistress. Lucy valued genuine love, and commitment. It was rude and distasteful to hear Lucy getting talked about like a prized trinket by the people Lucy loved. To say that Lucy's virtue could be bet on was going too far in Loke's opinion. Lucy's desire was to follow the rules, and that included the way she would have given her heart to someone. Yet the spell's interference would be the deciding factor for when the trio altered their roles.

"What is wrong with you people that you're making such stupid bets? The answer is already obvious. Laxus sama will decide whether or not he wants Lucy. Things will proceed according to his decision. Natsu's so stupid that they would have made the announcement of being a couple months ago if he understood sexual attraction, which he does not! Lucy and Natsu both describe their relationship as best friends only which may be the truth. Therefore, I believe Laxus sama has no competition from Natsu if he decides to claim Lucy Heartfilia as his own." Evergreen snapped while glaring at Cana's group of enthusiastic gossips.

As the others from the guild argued over opinions, and time frames about the race to claim Lucy's virginity, Loke tuned into the Thunder Tribe's conversation specifically. Freed's voice was much softer, and harder to hear, but Loke was able to catch his commentary.

"We've always known Laxus sama feels drawn to Lucy san. He's been fighting his attraction to her ever since he first saw her walk into the old guild with our idiot Pyro. Of course he was angry when she chose the pyro as her partner, and refused his offer of protection during the Phantom Lord incident which she caused. Lucy san should choose Laxus sama because he's pretty certain that she's his by virtue of destiny."

"I'd be the first to celebrate if Laxus sama got Cheerleader the normal way, but I can't stomach this deal that's messing everything up between the three of them. Feels like their souls have been raped whenever I look at any of them. Cosplayer's in really bad shape because of them freaks' spell doing so much more damage to her soul than was getting done by them crazy chains. We gotta find a way to fix all of their souls, especially Cosplayer's or she's going to shatter soon."

"Cosplayer shatter. Cosplayer shatter." Bickslow's dolls whimpered much to Loke's shock.

Evergreen tapped her closed fan against her chin. "Laxus sama won't like it if anything happens to Lucy. Hard as he tries to deny it, I've seen the way he watches her when he thinks nobody will notice where his gaze has wandered. If only that Flame Breathing idiot wasn't in Laxus way all the time, this never would have happened to her!"

"True, Ever. But that doesn't change the reality of that spell used on them having tampered with Laxus sama's soul. He isn't our Laxus sama any longer. Who knows what's going to happen to him, and the others, if I can't reverse that spell and get their souls back to normal soon? I can see what's happening to Laxus sama, and I don't like it one bit."

"Don't like! Don't Like!" Bickslow's growled commentary was echoed in higher pitched stereophonic chorus that could only come from his totem souls.

Loke remained concerned with Bickslow's comments as his babies contained a huge reservoir of soul power to be used at the Seith Mage's discretion. On one level, Loke agreed with Bickslow. Soul Binding was very invasive, and in time would erode some parts of each mage's individuality. However, Loke also felt that Bickslow's desire to find a way to break the Soul Binding was equally disturbing due to the potential of killing all three Fairy victims due to additional stress on each one's soul. In fact, Lucy's damage was quite extensive, and was never going to completely heal so her death was a foregone conclusion even if the two men were successfully separated from her.

Loke wondered whether Freed and Evergreen could control Bickslow's urges to liberate his leader from the Soul Binding curse, or would become willing allies to the cause. The fact that Evergreen said Laxus had long held an attachment to Lucy was somewhat shocking to Loke, as he had thought all Laxus was interested in was a single romp in bed before tossing Lucy aside. Yet if their softer conversation was correct, Laxus might actively harbor real emotions for Lucy. As much as Loke wished to scoff at the idea, it was better for Lucy of the Thunder Tribe was correct about their leader's supposed attachment.

"Laxus sama said he doesn't hate the arrangement, so who are we to object when Laxus sama told us leave things alone? Ever's right about Laxus sama always watching Lucy san, Bickslow. We don't have the right to interfere, and Laxus sama ordered us to let them deal with their problems as they see fit. As annoying as it is to sit by and watch drastic changes happen, Laxus sama has the right to make his own choices." Freed responded.

"Laxus sama's making very weird choices because isn't acting like Laxus which is my whole point, Freed."

"Whole point, whole point."

"The way they manipulated his soul so he's enslaved to that moron and the Cheerleader is what's making Laxus say those things. You're telling me to let it go but what kind of friends are we if we let Laxus down? If we can find a way to safely reverse the spell, then we need to do so. All I'm saying is it might be possible to undo what was done to them so we know this is what they really want."

"Undo. Undo." The chorus demanded.

"I don't think Laxus sama wants to undo his soul's attachment to Lucy san, Bickslow. You should accept that he's happy with finally clearing the air between them. You know very well that Laxus has always wanted her. If anything, laxus sama always felt that being with Lucy san had to happen despite Natsu's presence. We all know how much research Laxus sama did to understand the Dragon Slayer lore when he was younger. If everything Laxus sama learned is correct, Natsu was the one infringing upon Laxus by constantly draping himself all over Laxus' destined wife." Freed insisted.

Loke was startled by what Freed was saying. It made sense that Laxus found Lucy attractive, but this discussion implied something more was happening with the resident bad boy, and womanizer of Fairy Tail than simple lust covered. Uncertain as to why Freed was insisting that Laxus believed Lucy belonged to him, but aware that it had to do with Dragon Slayer lore meant a trip to the Celestial Spirit Library to ask Crux to do research on Dragon Slayers beyond what Loke currently knew because of Natsu's presence in Lucy's life.

"I'm not saying we should break Laxus sama and Cosplayer up by reversing that spell, Freed. I want to make sure that they get together the normal way, so there won't ever be room for doubts about them being destined for each other."

"No doubts, no doubts."

Loke strained to hear Evergreen's response over they rhythmic smacking of the table top with her fan. "Those fiends said they only used such a dangerous spell because it was the only way to save Lucy's life. If Lucy's soul is in as bad a shape as you claim, won't she die if you try to separate their souls, Bicks? Do you really think Laxus sama would let you live if you kill the woman he's crazy about while trying to return his ability to make independent choices just to suit yourself?"

Evergreen made a valid point and Loke knew she was correct. Trying to remove the soul shards from Lucy would shatter her damaged soul without fail. Taking a huge gulp of his beer as the horrible reality crashed through Loke's own soul, wounding him deeply, Loke continued to listen to the trio as Freed spoke.

"What if we find a way to remove Natsu's soul while leaving Laxus sama and Lucy san as they are? It would be the safer alternative, and Laxus sama gets what he wants the most. He gets to keep Lucy san for himself, while Natsu is free to find someone else. We know Laxus sama is powerful. His strength should be enough to hold Lucy san's soul together. With Bickslow's abilities, it might even be plausible to completely heal her soul by working together. Bickslow isn't be bound to Laxus sama's or Lucy san's souls while helping reverse the damage she has sustained either."

The idea of healing Lucy's soul completely elated Loke. If the Seith mage was capable of such a feat, it was worth looking into how it could be done. Seith Mages did not exist when Soul binding was devised with their strange ability to manipulate lost souls. However, it was possible that such a spell as the trio were debating could be designed safely, but would need testing before it was used on anyone. Sighing heavily as he considered the possibilities, Loke drained his beer mug. Seith magic needed to be added to Crux's list of in depth research topics Loke decided as he glared at foam traces sliding down his mug's insides.

The sound of an explosion whipped Loke's head around as he jumped to his feet. The Fey Elites and Fairies began discussing the situation, and Loke listened to their chatter. Most were wondering what was going on, so those with Soul Bonds outside began to explain that Laxus was trying to control Natsu. The Ancients were agreeing to leave everything up to the guard mages which were a conglomerate of ancient and modern magic users. It was their standing orders to refrain from interfering without being asked. Vraylinish's order was a large piece of what Loke heard the detractors getting reminded by their comrades. Despite the restlessness the group radiated, Loke could not help but note that even the detractors were mostly amiable to the orders Vraylinish had given.

Knowing that Levy was unable to keep up with so many voices around her, Loke began translating what he was hearing at the top of his voice. "Master Makarov, get to the training ground because Laxus and Natsu are fighting. You've got to separate them because Natsu's lost control of his power for some reason!"

Freed leapt to his feet, with Bickslow and Evergreen following his lead. Evergreen raced down the stairs while Freed and bickslow both vaulted to the ground floor to get to their leader. Makarov shot out of his office, snapping orders as he also sprang over the upper floor's balcony railing. "Levy, come with me! We're going to need your help containing those two. Freed, get ready to start building a rune cage to trap Laxus and Natsu in before they do serious damage to one another."

Many other guild members were up and moving toward the stairs, jostling each other to be the first outside to witness their long feared nightmare unfold. The loud cacophony forced Loke to slam his hands over his ears as Cana and others complained about how their guests had lied to Fairy Tail. The fight was proof that nothing stopped dragon instincts from exerting too much influence as Natsu and Laxus were going to kill one another to claim Lucy. Fear that such voices were correct, Loke felt his knees wobble dangerously. Grabbing the thick wooden table top for support, Loke tried to control his shaking limbs.

If either man died, Lucy was doomed. Natsu had too little control over his power and instincts, and Laxus was not one to ignore any challenge to his authority. The unexpected spark of hope Loke felt earlier was being crushed under a deluge of fear. Losing Lucy would be the harshest blow the Celestial world could be dealt because of the multiple chains still attached to her soul. Unable to remain on his feet, Loke sank back onto the bench, breathing as if finishing a marathon sprint.

Mirajane dropped a hand onto Loke's shoulder and refilled his mug. "Calm down, Loke kun. We won't let them do permenant damage to each other. Lucy's going to be fine. Master will make sure of it."

Guzzling the fresh beer in one swift motion, Loke slammed the mug onto the table top. "I hope you're right, Mira. Losing Lucy's a death sentence for us Spirits. Nobody understands how the Astral Chains work better than we do. If any of the chains fail completely, it rips a hole into the Abyss Lord's prison, and we can't seal that thing away if it gets out. We no longer have the power that the Phoenix loaned us."

Refilling his glass, Mirajane spoke in the same soothing tone. "You're part of this Guild, Loke kun. You don't need some outside power like the Phoenix to save your home. You have your guild family if that thing does get out of prison. We won't let you face that thing alone because you're one of us. Same goes for all of Lucy's spirits. Her family is our family."

Taking a shaky breath, Loke closed his eyes. None of them could understand how powerful a demon like Abyss Lord was because none of them had ever faced such obscene power. Still, hearing Mirajane Strauss the Takeover Demon speaking with such unwavering certainty did help Loke to regain control of himself.

"Thanks, Mira chan. Guess I needed a quick pep talk there. I'm glad some members of Fairy Tail thinks of me and my kind as family. Somehow, that helps make things a bit easier to handle."

Wearing her trademark pinup girl smile, Mirajane nodded once before turning on her heel. Sitting the empty pitcher on the bar top, Loke watched as she grabbed a large bin. Marching up the staircase, Mirajane seemed determined to clear off the tables while so many were out of the way. Loke clenched his hands around his mug, determined to keep an eye on the Ancients still in the room while his guild mates went to break up Laxus and Natsu's inevitable battle.

One of the Ancient Mages walked closer and sat down across from Loke. The man was a battle scarred veteran. His left eye was hidden, if not missing, beneath masses of ridged scar tissue. Showing the brute called Lance a lifted eyebrow, Loke waited for him to speak. A bright golden eye studied Loke for several moments as if Lance was trying to decide what he wished to say. Calling upon the broken memory fragments within, Loke began drawing upon any information he could recall about this warrior.

Lance had survived the original Abyss Lord battle, and was a Star Singer attached to the Capricorn Temple from what Loke could dig out of the scattered memory remnants. Vague pieces came into focus as Loke concentrated upon dredging through the past despite how uncomfortable it made him. One thing he recalled was that Lance had disdained the normal roles of the Priests attached to Constellation Temples. The man was an avid hunter, and preferred the outdoors with all their dangers over serving the religious order he was coerced into serving because of his bloodline.

["When are you going to stop this foolishness?"] Lance's raspy voice yanked Loke from his contemplation.

Unsure of Lance's agenda, Loke had to remind himself to shift mental languages to ask, ["Excuse Me?"]

["You avoid Supreme Alpha as if you fear her. Why? If you are not Reagaltiel, and feel nothing as you claim, why avoid her?"] Lance clarified.

Loke sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. Tired of repeating himself, Loke frowned as he answered. ["Did it never occur to you that my presence might make your leader uncomfortable because I resemble her dead companion? I'm not going to add unnecessary strain to an already unstable situation. I'm no longer a human, nor the person she wishes me to be. My loyalty lies with my key's owner, and the Celestial Spirit King"]

Lance's single eye seemed to bore into Loke's soul as they stared each other down. The thoughtfulness of the one eyed stare only made Loke's discomfort worse. Although Loke did find the Sacred Saint very appealing to his senses, the Spirit King had made it very clear that Loke was to stay away from all temptations. Focusing on Lucy's welfare was to remain Loke's priority which he readily agreed to do for the duration of her life.

["I think you feel something for our Alpha, so wish to avoid your first duty to her now that you know she lives. Do you deny the pull you feel on purpose, or have you simply lost your way, Star Singer?"]

Lips thinning, Loke dropped all pretense of patience. ["I'm no longer a Star Singer, nor am I going to have this pointless discussion multiple times every day. I've explained that I'm not Reagaltiel until I'm sick of repeating myself. If being thoughtful of a mortal's feelings is so hard for the lot of you to grasp, that isn't my problem, it's yours. The Celestial Laws decree that we Spirits must protect humans, not abuse them so I am obeying the laws."]

["Then why come every day? Your Singer is now awake. Our Supreme Alpha and three others have retained understanding of the new tongue. You do not need to speak for each side any longer. The rest of us are learning the new words while the magic stones make it possible for all to understand each other as we learn these new things. I think you must have another reason to come here each day."]

["My Princess may be awake, but the Celestial Spirit King insists on monitoring her health since all her contracted spirits feel her suffering, and are worried. I'm the only Celestial Spirit who can come here whenever I please, plus endure the pain of being here longer than an hour. Virgo cannot stay here for mor than forty five minutes on her own. Draining our Master to be here is unacceptable which makes Virgo unreliable for the task of monitoring Lucy's progress. Lucy's far from stable, or magically healthy because she's under far too much strain thanks to your Fairy pals' screw up. Your Fairies did the unthinkable by casting Soul Binding magic on her. Her anguish and distress is felt most keenly in the Celestial realm because of that stupid spell your idiot Fairies cast upon her, Laxus, and Natsu. I've made a vow to protect her from all harm, and I keep my word. I'm also required to keep the peace between my Guildmates, and your people. It seems to escape your people that most customs have changed dramatically over several millennia. Without my interference, your companions would constantly be at the modern mages' throats because they think you behave horribly with good reason. Fairy Tail would deem you a dark guild if not for me explaining why you act the way you do."] Loke snapped at the thoughtful man sitting across from him.

Lance smirked as Loke finished his lecture, then began to chuckle. The scarred Star Singer's volume increased until he was unleashing hearty guffaws. Snorting in irritation, Loke fought the urge to slam his fist into the man's face. Prickly pride combined with taut stretched nerves. The combination had Loke's Regulus power seething within his veins. Unable to completely control his own magic, the beer glass shattered within his hold.

Fighting to control his irritation, Loke ground out, ["What, pray tell. Do. You. Find. So amusing?"]

"Loke!" An all too familiar voice bellowed from the back of the guild. Taking a moment to switch mental languages, Loke turned to see Laxus stride into the main room with Lucy in his arms. Standing without bothering to dismiss or explain himself to Lance, Loke headed for Laxus position as the powerful mage stalked toward the passageway beneath the stairs where the infirmary door was located.

"Is Princess okay?" Loke asked as he fell into step with the taller man.

"I need you and Gajeel to keep an eye on Blondie while I drag Flame Thrower to our respective homes for clean clothes and long overdue showers."

Blinking owlishly for a moment over the poorly phrased request, Loke looked at Laxus as he tried to understand the man's odd behavior.

"Laxus sama, we will gladly help protect Lucy san so you can do your errands." Freed offered as he hurried closer.

"Freed, I didn't ask you for a reason. The three of you still resent what's happened, and I can smell it from here."

Loke felt his jaw loosen as Natsu gave a little nod of agreement but held his tongue. Laxus shifted his upper body and his singed shirt began breaking apart as he moved, ash flakes falling onto the Guild's floor. One of the dark blue shirt's sleeves was half ripped off at the shoulder seam, sagging to reveal hard muscle. A thin film of grime from sweat and dust lightly coated Laxus. Small nicks and cuts were almost done bleeding, yet his split lip was seeping a little because of having spoken.

A glance back at Natsu revealed that the shorter man was uniquely embarrassed and unnaturally subdued, plus in far worse shape. Natsu had taken quite a beating by the looks of his tattered clothing. If anything, Natsu would have to throw the tattered mess into the garbage. The amount of dirt covering Natsu's face gave the impression of wearing a mud mask. Even Natsu's hair seemed to have tiny clods of fresh dirt trapped between layers. It was easy to see who the victor of their fight was at a glance.

"I'm glad you two didn't kill each other out there." Loke tried to start a conversation as he pushed the infirmary door open for Laxus to precede him into the room.

"I wish everyone would stop looking at us like we're mortal enemies. Natsu lost control of his instincts because we both felt Blondie's pain. Had to stop him from interfering with the spell for hr safety, but that doesn't mean I'd ever kill him." Laxus snarled as he finished settling Lucy onto a cot and covering her with a blanket.

Natsu's pensive expression got even stranger looking to Loke as he glanced between the pair of Dragon Slayers. "Sorry, Laxus. I didn't mean to lose it."

With a hard exhale, Laxus shook his head. "It wasn't any easier for me when the pain hit. The only difference is I have real control, and you have a long way to go, Natsu. We'll work on it together."

Turning to face him, Laxus spoke as Gajeel stepped into the room to take a place near Loke. "You two keep an eye on Blondie. Make sure to get Wendy in here if she needs anything until we get back. I'm trusting you both to keep her safe while we get cleaned up."

"Uhm, how will either of us know if something's wrong? I mean, I understand that you're worried about your team, Laxus, but we really could use Bickslow's ability to monitor Princess's soul while you're gone. He could alert us if she needs attention."

Bickslow nodded vigorously. "He's right, Laxus sama. I can't hurt Cosplayer because I know this ain't her fault. The ones I hate are the freaks who did this to you three. We all think Cosplayer's great so why would we want to do anything but help her?"

Loke frowned as he cupped his chin. "The Celestial Library contains tomes on all forms of magic, including spells and histories long lost to this world. As damaged as Lucy's soul is at this point, we're researching ways to heal her, Laxus. If Bickslow seriously wishes to help our Princess, I think you should let him prove himself. For all we Spirits know, his ability to see souls might be the key to saving Lucy's life."

Natsu startled Loke when he stopped beside Laxus and tugged on the bigger man's damaged shirt sleeve. "Loke's got a point. I don't think Bickslow wants to hurt Luce either. If he's here, we'll know Luce's soul is safer because Bickslow can probably help Wendy's healing magic go where it needs to be in an emergency. Neither one of us can do that for Luce, so maybe we should let Bickslow prove himself. It gives me more time to get cleaned up since I need to wash some clothes to wear."

For several tense minutes, Laxus stared at Natsu with narrowed eyes. Not a sound aside from breathing broke the silence as Natsu stared back with an open, even borderline pleading expression. Something was happening between the two Slayers, but Loke could not be certain of the fleeting expression shifts that he was witnessing. Aware that Soul Bonds allowed for a unique kind of telepathy, Loke knew the duo were talking the idea over as their eyes clashed. However, certain flashes of emotion did not fit with the kinds of looks one would expect from an argument.

Without warning, Laxus broke eye contact and rubbed his forehead as his eyes shifted to Bickslow. "Fine, Bickslow, you can stay. I know how protective your babies are, and I won't risk them doing something to her because our souls look weird to you. Can you live with that compromise?"

For the first time in several days, Bickslow's tongue did a trademark wag as he broke into an infection grin. "You can count on me, Laxus sama. I'll make sure Cosplayer's super safe until you get all your errands done."

Giving a sanguine smile, Loke silently vowed to learn all he could about Seith Magic from Bickslow and the Celestial Library starting immediately. Having renewed hope of saving Lucy's life was all that truly mattered to Loke, and he would seek out any promising ally lead that he could find. Watching as Laxus reluctantly left the infirmary with Natsu tugging him along, Loke began formulating his next move to convince Bickslow to aide him in finding a solution that would not endanger Lucy or her Dragon Slayers' lives.

~~oo0oo~~


End file.
